Justice or revenge?
by Otje
Summary: She is back in Gotham but what will she do. Is what she has planned the right thing to do and how will she find out? AU with fem!Jason
1. Chapter 1

_This is my second story here and I hope you'll like it. Please if you do follow and/or review (if you don't like it let me know too), also if you see mistakes in my English please tell me. And I'd say enjoy!_

* * *

Justice or Revenge?

She was back.

Standing on the balcony of her current safe house she was deep in thought.

Not having been home in over two years and now here she was, well not really home but at least in the city where she had been born and had spent the first 13 years of her life.  
She still felt a bit lost though: what should she do? Yes, she did have a plan that she had been preparing for a long time.  
She'd been planning for the following night specifically for over a year and the last six months she had been busy to get every little detail right but now she wasn't sure if she should go through with her big plan.  
She knew Talia supported it but Ducra, her teacher, had told her before she left that she should always follow her heart and control her anger instead of letting it control her and she wasn't sure if this was the right path according to her heart, maybe it was what all her anger wanted.  
Maybe what she was doing wasn't seeking justice but revenge.  
She thought about her family, no they weren't her family more like the people she had called family once upon a time, it was stupid and she knew it, but even now she didn't want to disappoint them, even if they had let her down and probably even forgotten all about her since she'd been replaced such a short time after her death.

At the thought of her death her normally blue-green eyes flashed a poisonous green and gone were her doubts.  
The only thing remaining in her head was all her anger and she felt stupid for even having had doubts, it wasn't like there was even a reason for it.

* * *

Done with the view of the city she turned around and walked back into the apartment determined to make everyone who had wronged her pay for it.  
And tomorrow she would start.  
She glanced at the suit she'd been wearing the last six months while making a name for herself overseas.  
She had designed it herself and perfected it during the previous months.  
It consisted out of cargo-pants, reinforced with Kevlar, a reinforced turtle neck with padding to disguise her female form, combat boots with steel tips that were made to look bigger than her size 6 and had disguised heels of more than an inch to make her look taller, a Kevlar reinforced leather jacket with a lot of pockets filled with all kind of gadgets, black motor gloves with steel knuckles and a holo-computer on her left wrist and last was her helmet.  
It was made of a very strong, light weight alloy and outfitted with gadgets like heat vision, UV, X-ray and night vision functions in the lenses.  
A comm device, air filter and voice modifier were build in.  
It was painted in a mat scarlet red so she could still use stealth when she wore it.  
Underneath her helmet she always wore a red domino mask in case she had to abandon her helmet.  
The helmet was one of several because she knew she could only repair it so many times.  
They were a present from Talia, modeled after a design she'd come up with herself.  
She'd also gotten a kriss knife, a replica of one of Ra's' and one of the few things that could cut through the robes her former mentor and his lackeys used.  
She knew, she'd tested it.

She would see them soon and then she'd let them know what she thought about them. She was going to give them hell with a capital H.

They'd failed to avenge her, replaced her and plainly forgotten all about her and that was something that was going to change if she had anything to say about it.  
Now, she'd show them what they could do with all their bullshit about family.  
After all how much could it possibly mean if they couldn't even bother to notice she'd crawled out of her own grave.

But that was for tomorrow night, tomorrow she'd start.  
They'd never see it coming and she was going to enjoy every second of it. But for now sleep.

She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and glanced in the mirror somehow still expecting to see a boyish face look back at her but man had she changed at lot over the last few years.  
Some things were still the same like her eyes - almond form with irises in a mix of sky blue and emerald green surrounded by dark lashes – although right now they gleamed too bright green (something she liked to ignore) and her hair – black with messy curls that had a dark red shine to it when lit by the sun – though now much longer than it used to be (it passed her shoulders by about an inch instead of the boyish cut she'd had at the age of 13) were the same.  
But the rest of her appearance had changed a lot, not enough to make her unrecognizable by people who knew her but enough to make them have to look twice.  
And of course the fact that almost everyone who had known her at that age had thought she was a boy helped although she was fairly certain Bruce had known she was a girl but had been waiting for her to tell him and of course Alfred had known but that man knew fucking everything.

The time she could fool anyone into thinking she was a boy had passed since her pretty cherubic child-face had grown into that of a woman even though she had only turned 16 a few months before.  
When she'd been adopted after Dick had been Bruce's ward people had often asked Bruce where he got all the pretty orphans.  
Now she knew she was attractive because people often stared at her and boys made too many comments to be a coincidence.  
It was one of the reasons she'd designed her suit to make her look like a man but also so they wouldn't underestimate her.  
Her hair she hid by binding it up so she could wear her helmet over it.

Interrupting her thoughts she quickly brushed her hair and changed into an old shirt for bed.

When she finally lay down in her bed she glanced at the clock on her nightstand and groaned when its display said 2:47 AM.  
Closing her eyes she decided to try to catch at least some hours of sleep before morning came.  
She knew she would wake up during the night, probably several times, due to night terrors but right now all she wanted to do was sleep, she was dog-tired and indeed within a few minutes she was fast asleep.

* * *

It was about 8 AM when she decided to get up because she wouldn't get any more sleep anyway.  
She had spent the night drifting between different nightmares and had woken up screaming multiple times after which she'd spent several minutes trying to calm her breathing enough to be able to go back to sleep.  
That had become a routine sometime after the pit, it wasn't like she didn't have nightmares before, she had seen enough terrible things for a lifetime when she'd been only 13, both on the streets and as Robin.  
But nothing could have prepared her for being murdered by a grinning maniac and waking up buried in her own coffin followed by a dip in Ra's Al Guhl's Lazarus pit.

After she got up she made her way to the small kitchen – clean, thank you very much – and put on some coffee to at least feel a bit more alive, she was sure she looked like a zombie right then, well not like she wasn't a zombie in the first place 'Jasmine don't go there', but after at the very least two cups of coffee she would be able to think a lot clearer and not feel like her mind was filled with clouds.

She drank her coffee with a lot of sugar, just like she did it back when she lived at the Manor.  
Alfred would give her disapproving looks for it but he still made sure there was always sugar on the breakfast table and that was just for her since Bruce and Dick drank their coffee without it, Bruce drank it black and Dick did it with a lot of milk, so much that it was actually more milk then coffee.  
But she made it with sugar, just enough that not every grain would dissolve in the sour black liquid and that at the end of her cup she'd let the rest of the sugar melt on her tong, it was something she'd already done when she'd still lived with the bastard that had been her father and her mother – although she should probably call her her stepmother now but that didn't change the fact that Catherine Todd had been the only mom she'd ever had – ever when there was sugar to be found in their ratty apartment.

After she'd had her coffee she went to the fridge to look for something she could use to make breakfast.  
She found some eggs and made a mental note to herself to shop for groceries one of the following days because there wasn't that much left in the fridge.

She made herself an omelet with cheese and tomato and ate it while sipping at her 3rd cup of coffee.

* * *

After breakfast she cleaned her cup, plate and all the cutlery she had used and took a quick shower before heading out for a run in the park that ended up being a run through almost the entire city because the weather was just so good which meant that it took hours before she was back at the apartment she refused to call home.

There she took another shower all the while avoiding looking in the mirror because she knew that if she did she'd see a pair of eyes that still looked too green staring back.  
It was an almost constant reminder that she wasn't who she had been. She also knew that the green gleam wasn't always there but she didn't know what brought it up so she had no way of avoiding it.  
Not that she really cared about how she looked, god no, but whenever she had eyes like that it seemed much more difficult to think straight.  
But that were sorrows for later, now she had work to do.  
And with that thought she left the bathroom to get her work-clothes from the hidden compartment in her closet.  
She put on the armored clothes, checked the supplies of gadgets in her jacket's pockets, the ammo for her guns, strapped her knife around her left thigh and her main gun around her right and put on her boots.  
She then bound her hair, put on a red domino mask and last came the red helmet she both feared and needed so much.

She tested the different features of the lenses and started the computer that gave her the latest stats on situations in the city.

Now she was ready, now the Red Hood was ready to go out to play.


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's the second chapter, hope you like it. Please review and/or follow and thanks to the people who already did. Enjoy!_

* * *

After she left the apartment she headed for the docks already knowing what was going to go down there tonight.  
A big shipment for Black Mask was coming in and she had 'accidentally' tipped of one of Batman's informants so she knew he would be there too.  
What he didn't know was that she was going to be there too and that she was going to give him a run for his money.

Upon arriving she silently entered the ship carrying Black Mask's order, all in crates.  
It was a good thing she knew what she was looking for and where to find it or she would have been utterly lost.

She had just found the crate she needed when she heard commotion outside which told her Batman had arrived at the scene.  
She quickly opened the crate and activated the android inside with the remote control she had made before disappearing from the scene with it and another part of the cargo that she needed for later.

* * *

When Batman arrived at the docks after receiving a tip from an informant he hid in the shadows on the roof of a warehouse across the dock where Black Mask's ship was anchored.  
He had been observing the men guarding the ship for only a minute when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey"

Batman suppressed the urge to sigh and greeted "Nightwing" without turning around.

"Warm night."

Batman absentmindedly replied "Yes unseasonably so. This time of year makes them careless. Comfort makes them careless."

Now he could hear Nightwing sigh "I don't know what's worse. The fact that we're making small talk about the weather or the fact that you could turn it on a dime into crime fighting."

Batman gathered that the other vigilante wasn't going away any time soon so he turned around to face him. "Checking up on me?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing here. In light of recent events … I thought it wouldn't hurt for me to stay close to home." Nightwing answered with a bit of a pained expression before continuing "And with my leg still healing up …"

Batman seemed to think on that a bit before jumping to the roof of the next warehouse and saying "Blüdhaven is… was your home. New York is where you work with the Outsiders. How does Gotham enter into it?"

Nightwing sighed before following him while saying "It's good to see you too." In a rather sarcastic tone.

Batman didn't seem to notice his tone or just chose to ignore it as he said "I'm working a case. If you want to stay… I won't stop you." and moved closer towards the edge of the roof.

Nightwing smiled and said "The warmth is overwhelming." just as Batman jumped of the roof.

Then he heard him say "Unseasonably so."

Nightwing feigned chock as he followed Batman's lead and said "Good god, he made a joke."

A quiet "Be quiet." could be heard the moment Batman touched the ground behind one of the goons guarding the ship and knocked him out.

He replied "Yes sir." with a smirk before taking on a goon himself.  
Then he stopped paying attention to Batman and focused on the idiots that were closing in on him.  
They started shooting at him so he jumped over the rain of bullets and let his knee connect with one of the men's jaw while gloating "Those are some nice guns, fellas" before using his elbow to take out a guard that had hoped to catch him unaware by approaching him from behind. "You got them at some high-tech gun show or off the internet?" Nightwing continued while using the head of that guard as a push-off for a back flip that ended with another man on the ground with Nightwing on top of him.  
He noticed no more of them were coming so he looked up and saw that every single one of them had been taken down by either him or Batman.

Batman started in the direction of the ship and he followed picking up one of the guards' riffles to study it. "These boys where dressed for a small war. Do you recognize these?" He asked as he held the riffle in front of Batman.

Batman moved past it and started inspecting the crates containing the cargo of the ship. "They're D.E.O. Stolen three weeks ago. Heavy arms. Someone values the cargo." Then he looked at Nightwing and said "The lids are clear of explosives."

Nightwing then started opening a crate as he asked "What do you guess? Arms? Drugs? Tech?" he paused before adding "I'm betting arms." In a confident tone.

Batman shot him a grim look before saying "¨Probably. But these casings don't match up."

"Well maybe we're in for a …" Nightwing paused as he had opened the crate to take in what he was seeing inside it before adding more hesitantly "surprise." Then he looked up at Batman and asked "What is that?"

Batman simply answered "Just what it looks like." in an expressionless voice. "Those are boomerangs from Captain Boomerang… a few of Freeze's guns… those bombs are Joker's…"

Nightwing whistled "Admittedly, it's all very lethal stuff but do you think someone was more interested in their novelty? Like a collector?" He asked in a tone that said he was hoping he was right.

Batman's expression looked pensive as he replied "Maybe."

Nightwing shrugged and said "Well, it looks like you've got yourself a few new trophies for the cave." while opening another crate. "I'd never…" he paused when he saw the content of the crate. "Aw hell."

The crate contained a bomb and by the looks of it, it had just been activated.

Batman boomed "Move."

Then both ran for the safety of the water.  
They managed to jump off the ship before it exploded but it was a narrow escape, very narrow.

You okay?" Batman asked as they climbed out of the water.

"Fine." He answered as he stood up.  
Then he heard Batman say "There. On the roof." And indeed on the roof of the warehouse in front of them a figure could be seen.

He answered "Go." and they both fired a line from their grapple gun at the warehouse in question.  
When they got on the roof the figure was already running away but Nightwing could see that he was wearing some sort of red helmet.  
He asked Batman "You know him?"

"No, and at the moment I don't care." Came the gruff reply. "Just get him."

Nightwing watched the man jump off the roof they were on and land in a perfect crouch on the next one where he didn't waste a second before continuing on and Nightwing couldn't help but notice that their opponent was fast and seemed very well trained.  
The figure never seemed to have to think before acting and moved with agility that almost could rival his own.  
And there was something else, something familiar about the way he moved but Nightwing couldn't quite place it.  
Then Batman shot a line towards the man that caught around his ankle but then the man did something that really impressed Nightwing.  
He cut the line before it went taught – that was a move even he couldn't always pull off.  
Of course it could just have been dumb luck but then he saw the man jump off the roof they were currently running on and decided that no, it wasn't luck but practice.

The figure was going into free fall towards a lower roof and for a moment Nightwing thought the chase was over but then he heard glass breaking and when he looked down he saw that the figure had gone through a skylight into another warehouse.  
There was no one to be seen on the floor which suggested that the man had escaped. Nightwing whistled "Impressive."

But Batman said "Nothing we haven't seen before." Then he jumped and added "Or done before."

"Got that right." Nightwing answered with a grin.

They both landed on the floor with a thump and Nightwing felt the strain on his still healing leg. "That hurt…"

He could hear Batman say "Stay sharp." just as someone seemed to switch the lights on.

His eyes went big as he saw what was in front of them.

"Oh, boy."

Batman repeated "Stay sharp."

He heard that the shipment would be something big but this wasn't what he'd been expecting.  
Yeah sure it was big! In front of them was an Amazo.  
A highly advanced android designed to take out the Justice League.  
Then the android spoke.

"I guess I will just have to settle for you two."

Nightwing vaguely heard Batman say once more "Stay sharp." but was more focussed on the trajectory of the androids fist that seemed to come right at him.

* * *

The Red Hood watched from the shadows as the two heroes attacked the android already knowing they would win the fight but it bought her the time she needed to escape and that was all it had been meant for.  
She left the warehouse l using a door and slipped back into the shadows after seeing Nightwing being dragged into the air by the Amazo.

She then went to check on the crate she'd made the Amazo carry for her to another warehouse and when she saw it was okay she left the docks by rooftop and went on her way to her apartment.

When she reached the East End, where her apartment was, she started feeling weird and started having doubts about her plan again.  
She decided to stay out a little longer to clear her head and after running aimlessly over the rooftops for some time she sat down on one to think.  
She had just released the hatch on her helmet to take it off when something(or was it someone) slammed into her and pinned her down.  
She looked up and when she saw who was pinning her down she said out of surprise. "Dick!? Shit!"

* * *

 _So most of the conversation in this chapter comes from the comics (Under the Hood) but after this it will be my own imagination again._

 _For who's interested I also posted a new chapter for my story 'Related'._


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's the new chapter, hope you like it. If you do, please follow and/or review. Those who did already, thanks! Enjoy!_

* * *

Having lost the Red Hood because of their tangle with the Amazo Bruce and Dick had gone back to the Cave. Which was where they were now.

Dick was in the med bay with Alfred fussing over him because he'd gone out with the still not healed bullet wound in his leg and had managed to do some more damage to it with his bad landing inside that warehouse.

Dick wasn't really listening to Alfred, he was more focused on Bruce who kept playing and replaying whatever footage they had of the Red Hood. Every time letting the computer make adjustments to get the quality up. Dick had a feeling they wouldn't learn anything they didn't know already from it and he began feeling tired. So he told the both of them that he was going to head home and that he'd see them again the day after. He declined the offer from Alfred to stay at the Manor for the night. He left after wishing them a good night and getting a good night from Alfred and a grunt from Bruce in return. Then he mounted his bike and rode out of the Cave in the direction of Gotham City.

Dick decided to go to a safe house in Gotham so he didn't have to make the journey back to Blüdhaven. But when he reached the East End, where his apartment was located, he saw an awfully familiar figure running over the rooftops. It was the Red Hood once more and Dick was determined not to lose him again. After looking at the direction the Red Hood was going in Dick secured his bike and managed to get on the roof of the closest building by using a fire escape.

He was lucky because he could still see the Red Hood running on a roof not too far away. Dick tried to follow him without being too obvious about it but his opponent seemed really out of it because he didn't even check if he was being followed.

Nightwing was coming closer and closer when the Red Hood suddenly stopped on a random roof and sat down. He reached for a spot on the back of his helmet and Nightwing could hear the hiss of an airtight space opening from his hiding place on the other side of the roof.

Nightwing then quickly advanced, jumped and had the Red Hood pinned down before the other even knew what was going on. But what really surprised Nightwing was not only how easy he had the Red Hood pinned down but what his opponent said.

"Dick!? Shit!"

He noticed was how high of a voice the Red Hood had before the meaning of the exclamation reached him. "Wait? What! You know who I am?"

"No! I just called you a dick?!" the Red Hood with a really unsure tone to his (?) voice. By now Dick really doubted the Red Hood was a man because the voice sounded more female than male. It was also a really young voice and weirdly familiar, just like her (he was convinced it was a woman) moves. Now he really wanted that helmet off and with the Red Hood not really fighting him he dared to loosen his grip on her to adjust his pin so he had his hands free. He then proceeded to take of the helmet, when she noticed what he was about to do she tried to fight him but his hold on her was too tight and he managed to get the helmet off. When it was off Dick's breath hitched for a moment out of surprise. Clearly he also loosened his grip on her because in that moment she was able to flip them and get the advantage over him.

When Dick found his voice back he asked "Jay? How's this possible?"

The girl shook her head and for a moment Dick thought that she was getting mad but then she relaxed and seemed to decide that it was best to let him get up.  
Dick did just that and took off his mask before moving to get in front of her to do the same with the domino mask she'd been wearing under the helmet. When she was unmasked there was no question that the person in front of him was his younger brother (sister?) because there was no one else who had that peculiar shade of blue-green eyes.

He heard her say something but it was too quiet for him to understand so he asked "What did you say?" in the gentlest tone he could muster. He was worried because the girl looked like she wanted to disappear on the spot.

She sighed as if she was defeated. "Jasmine, my name is Jasmine and not Jason or Jay." She repeated a little louder this time.

Dick snorted and said "Yeah, I already thought you looked different from when I last saw you three years ago."

Jasmine flinched and Dick quickly enveloped her in a hug. "Hey Jaz, it's okay. What happened back then wasn't your fault. Neither was it anyone else's but that laughing maniac's."

His last words made her flinch again and he felt her shake a bit but then a weak smile appeared on her face.

Dick was glad to see it but asked all the same "Why the smile, little sis?"

"You know my name for less than a minute and already you've got a nickname for me instead of the normal reaction of being freaked out like most people would be in a situation like this." She said.

"Well, I'm not most people, now am I?" He heard her snort. "And I am certainly a bit freaked out but mostly I want to know how you are here so I propose we go to my place to talk because it's getting kind of late.

She considered this for a moment before nodding.

He was forced to let her go from his hug to put his mask back on. He handed her hers to do the same but when he saw her reaching for her helmet to put it back he asked her not to. She shrugged but did as he asked and moved to follow him when he got to the edge of the roof.

Dick decided to leave his bike where it was and go directly to his apartment. It was only a few blocks so he took out his grapple gun and fired it in the right direction and saw her do the same from the corners of his eyes.

About ten minutes later they reached the apartment where Jasmine put her helmet on the window sill before asking something he didn't expect her to. "What happened to your leg?"

He looked away, ashamed of the past few weeks even though he was fairly certain she didn't know what he'd done. "Got shot during a gang war." It was the truth just not the complete truth but he didn't want to explain why it hadn't healed better by now.

She looked at him with cocked eyebrows that clearly said 'that's bullshit and you know it.' but when she spoke it was "Okay, that's nothing to bed ashamed of so I suspect there is a story behind it, right?"

He sighed when he remembered just how accurately she'd always been able to tell if someone was lying or leaving something out. "Yeah there is but that's for another time. We are here for you and not for me." She sighed.

"Fine." She then looked around before asking "You have a toilet around here somewhere?"

Dick snickered. "Yeah, you can take a shower if you want too. I still have some clothes lying around from Barbara that I think should fit you."

Jasmine looked at him for a second as if she didn't understand what he said before looking at herself. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

He nodded and led her to the guest bathroom. "I'm gonna go look for those clothes. Are you gonna be okay here?"

She nodded before saying "Yes, I'll be fine."

When he came back he could hear the water running so he left the clothes on the bed and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. He had the feeling the both of them could use it right now.

He was looking for the sugar for Jasmine when he heard her come into the room. He turned around and the first thing he noticed was how small she actually was when she wasn't wearing her Red Hood costume. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white tank top from Barbara and he was surprised by how long her hair was not that she didn't have it in a ponytail on the back of her head. It was still wet and he could see the red gleam it had, something he'd always teased her about when they were younger.

He found the sugar and held it up triumphantly before moving towards the couch and sitting down. When he noticed she wasn't following he patted the spot next to him before and proceeded with pouring milk into his coffee. When he looked at her sideways he saw her pulling a face. She saw him looking and said.

"Still don't understand how you can drink that."

Dick snickered. "Well, I've never understood how you can drink it so sweet."

She grinned. "What do you mean, it's heavenly."

He shook his head and looked at her while she started putting spoons with sugar in her coffee. Right now she didn't look one bit like the feared Chinese crime lord that was the Red Hood. She just looked like the sixteen year old girl she should be. The clothes from Barbara were a bit big on her which made her look even smaller than she was in reality. When she was done with the sugar he pulled her into a hug. She pulled up an eyebrow but hugged him back and asked.

"Why another hug?"

He shrugged and said. "Isn't it possible that I simply missed you?"

She scoffed before pulling back from the hug. "That's not what your actions from before today said."

He still felt guilty about that so he said. "I know I haven't been the bestest brother ever or even the brother you needed but I want to make up for that." He was silent for a moment before adding. "And don't think for a second that you weren't missed, your absence was hard on all of us. You don't know how happy everyone will be when they realize you're okay."

Now she looked away before saying. "How can he have missed me when he took on a new Robin so short after I died." She then looked him in the eye while waiting for an answer.

Dick sighed. "You have to understand he didn't choose Tim, Tim simply showed up one day saying Batman needed a Robin. First he tried to make me retake the Robin mantle and when I refused he took it himself without Bruce's permission and saved the both of us from Two Face."

Jasmine looked surprised. "I didn't know that, I thought he'd simply gone looking for another kid after me." She then looked away as if ashamed of herself.  
He made her face him again and said. "Not like you could have known but how about we come back to that later and you first tell me about you. I for one really want to know why I didn't know you were a girl." And to his regret he didn't manage to keep the accusation out of his voice completely.

"You know I didn't tell anyone, right?" She asked looking a bit guilty.

He didn't say anything but he felt better after hearing that.

She was about to continue when someone knocked on the door and she looked a bit frustrated in its direction.

"You stay here while I go look who it is, okay?" Dick asked with a bit of a pleading look in his eyes.

She nodded and took her cup from the table to take a first sip from it while he stood up and walked in the direction of the door where the knocking became faster and louder with every rap.

* * *

 _I posted a new chapter of my other story related too, if anyone's interested._


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, here's the next chapter. Please let me know if you like it. Reviews are always welcome and thanks to everyone who already did that. I don't know when the next chapter will be ready because I have to study for my exams (they start the first week of January). But anyway: Merry Christmas!_

* * *

Tim was waiting at the door to Dick's apartment. He needed to speak to him and thought he'd have to go to Blüdhaven to see him so when he heard from Alfred that Dick was in Gotham he immediately came here, this being the only apartment in Gotham Dick owned. Now he was really hoping that Dick was actually here and that he hadn't gone to one of Bruce's apartments. There were a lot of those so it certainly a possibility but Tim absolutely didn't want to visit each and every one of them so he really, really hoped Dick was here.

He was just about to give up and reluctantly go to another apartment when the door opened and Dick greeted him.

"Hiya Timmy, What are you doing here?"

"Hey Dick, I needed to ask you something. Could I come in?"

Dick glanced at something inside the apartment before replying. "Now's not really a good time, sorry Timmy." He said with an apologising look on his face.  
Tim frowned. Dick always had time for him, he'd never told him something like this. He asked himself what could have happened that made Dick react like this.  
Dick must have interpreted the look on his face because he immediately said "It has nothing to do with you. You know what: I'll come over to your house first thing tomorrow, that okay?"

He nodded, not certain of what else to do. Then Dick gave him a quick hug and said "Thanks Timmy" before closing the door.

Tim stood there blinking for another minute or so, completely baffled by what had just happened before shrugging and walking out of the hallway. He trusted that Dick would explain what was going on the next time they spoke. It had been obvious that there was someone else in the apartment, someone who Dick hadn't wanted him to see. He really hoped everything was all right and that Dick would ask for help if he needed it. But then again he'd never known Dick to need help so it would probably work out and Dick had looked all right, if a bit stressed out.

His worries a bit subsided he went home, hoping to get some eye shut before having to go to school the next morning.

* * *

Jasmine watched Dick go to the door and heard how he started talking with a Timmy (?). He seemed to know Dick pretty well so she tried to deduce who it could be. She tried to think about any Tims she had known when she lived here. The only one that came to mind was that Drake boy who lived next to Wayne Mansion. That couldn't be this boy though. Drake had been the perfect image of a rich boy. He'd been in her grade and had shared a lot of classes with her at Gotham Academy and she'd always thought of him as an insufferable know-it-all. Not that he had spoken up that much but when he did it was always right, she'd never known him to make a mistake. Add to that the fact that he'd skipped three grades. Of course, being the only two students in their grade that had skipped more than one grade they didn't really give them a choice about who to interact with, but she'd never liked him. Tim had been small, even smaller than her and she'd only been 5'4'' at age 13. Okay, maybe not that small but compared to all the 15 year olds in her classes she'd been practically a midget and Tim even more so.

He had often been the target of bullies because of it and most of the time she had come to the rescue. This had often resulted in fights which most of the time ended with her getting detention. She didn't do it for him, she just didn't like bullies. Of course Bruce had been upset with her because of all those detentions until he found out that she only got them because she had been fighting off bullies. Then he'd asked her to try and find another way but he had given her that almost proud look that he normally reserved for when she did something the way Dick would have done it too, but this time it had been for her. Dick would never have done something like that but Bruce had still been proud, it had been one of the only times he'd been given that look for being herself and not a carbon copy of Dick.

She was then startled by Dick when he touched her shoulder because she hadn't been reacting to anything he said.

"Hey Jaz, you still with me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, just thinking. What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to continue your story now or if you wanted to something do something else first."

She smiled, trying to assure him everything was all right. "I'll just continue. You deserve to hear it and the faster it's done, the better." She ended with a sigh.

Dick looked at her with a questioning gaze but she waved it off and continued her story.

"So, as I was saying there wasn't anyone alive who knew I'm a girl during the time I lived here. The reason for that was actually my mother. She was afraid of how dangerous life could be for a girl in the Narrows and especially in Crime Alley so she decided to tell everyone that I was a boy. Even Willis didn't know he had a daughter instead of a son."

During that last sentence Dick thought he saw her eyes become a shaded greener but then he blinked and by the time he looked again they looked normal.  
"I guess he would have liked having a son over a daughter anyway so that didn't really matter. My mother taught me how to act as a boy and once I was old enough to understand what it meant, she made me vow to never tell anyone I was a girl."

Dick arched his eyebrows at that.

She shrugged. "I know, it sounds stupid now but you have to understand that violence against girls was something that happened often enough there. Almost every week, if not more, a girl would be attacked or raped in our neighbourhood. Abductions weren't out of the question either. It wasn't like being a boy made living there into an instant fairy-tale or something like that, but it was easier."

Then she took a deep breath. "And after my mother died I kept pretending to be a boy because living on the street was even worse. There it was already extremely dangerous for a boy, so for a girl it was almost impossible to survive. I've seen enough girls being grabbed or being forced into prostitution. I wasn't gonna let that happen to me!"

Dick gulped, he'd never known it was that dangerous to live there. No wonder his sister had such thick walls surounding her, never letting anyone come close. She'd had probably no other choice if she wanted to survive.

"So when B came around, I didn't even know how to act like a girl and I figured he wouldn't want to take in a girl anyway so I just kept up the façade. A lot changed and while for the first time ever I didn't have to worry about staying alive, I didn't fit in anymore and I was often referred to as B's street rat, though I guess you are familiar with that kind of thing."

Dick nodded, he had been called gipsy or circus brat quite a few times by these so called people of high class.

"And then B started to compare me to you. The fact in the beginning you were criticizing me all the time too didn't really help either." She gave Dick an unimpressed look and he felt the need to justify himself.

"At the time I was fighting with Bruce and I thought he was just using you to recreate his live from when I was little. And you are right in saying that I shouldn't have taken it out on you, but I was a kid and I was mad. And are you able to tell me you would have acted differently, will act differently?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I don't know and what do you mean with will?"

"Well, you'll have to meet the new Robin sometime, at least if you plan on staying in Gotham."

Jasmine hadn't really thought about that. She had known there was another Robin of course, but she hadn't thought about him that much. Hadn't really wanted to think about him. "Hmm, who is he actually? He doesn't live with B so he's probably no orphan, which is good but it also makes it harder to find out who is."

Dick looked at her questioningly. "You don't want to hurt him, do you?"

She shook her head. "If I wanted to hurt him don't you think I would have just ambushed him? Not like I need to know who he is to do that."

Dick looked at her like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Aren't you mad that he replaced you."

"I'm mad that I was replaced, but I'm guessing that's not his fault. B chooses who can fight with him, not the other way around."

Now Dick looked conflicted. "Well, that's how it worked with us, but Tim's a different story."

"Wait, you mean Tim like the boy who was at the door."

"Um yeah, that was Robin. But the thing is he wasn't chosen by Bruce. He came to us, saying that Batman needed a Robin. First he wanted me to be Robin again and when that didn't work he donned the outfit himself and saved both of us from Two-Face on his first night. It was only after that that Bruce gave him permission to be Robin, and only IF he trained for six months and passed a test Bruce set up. So basically the same thing we had to do to become Robin."

"Are you saying that he came to you, like he knew who you were?"

Now Dick smiled nervously. "Yeah, he actually figured out Bruce's and my identity at age nine. So you could say that he had the detective part of the job down early on."

"Wow. Um WOW. Didn't expect that to be honest. He is like what? The second person to figure out your identities and the other one is Ra's so that doesn't even really count."

Dick nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty incredible, Tim's pretty incredible."

"Tim what, actually? You never told me his last name and maybe I know him."

"Oh yes, you're right. And you do know him. I think? He's Tim Drake, from Bruce's neighbours."

"What! Drake is Robin? But he's so small, I mean he's smaller than me and I'm a girl. How can Bruce be okay with this?"

"Remember me becoming Robin at age eight and you at ten? Tim is only about a half year younger than you and he was already thirteen when he officially became Robin which is a lot older than we were when we started out."

Jasmine sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right but it just seems wrong, I mean he was so small when we went to school together and I always had to protect him from bullies. And now he protects people from criminals? That just seems wrong, you know?"

Dick chuckled. "Yeah, I see where you're coming from but Tim can take care of himself. He's had a lot of training and do you think Bruce would let him go out as Robin if he wasn't ready after what happened to you."

She snorted. "So now he's saying that I wasn't good enough, that me not being ready was the reason I died? You know that's not true." She ended with a pleading look.

He sighed. "Yes, I know it wasn't because you weren't good enough. I wouldn't have survived something like that either and he does know that, even if he doesn't like to acknowledge it because that would mean that no one is ever ready. There is always something that can happen; someway even the best plan can go wrong. Any of us could die every time we go out there and I think he just doesn't like to think about that. And he doesn't blame you for your death but himself. He sees not being on time that day as his greatest failure." Dick watched Jasmine intently, he thought he had seen her eyes change colour again but then she had closed them and when they reopened they'd been normal.

Jasmine arched her eyebrows when she saw him staring. "And your point is?"

"That you shouldn't be too hard on him. He is in no way perfect, but you know he tries the best he can."

"You serious? Even after everything he's done you still protect him?" Jasmine looked at Dick with an incredulous look.

Dick smiled wistfully and shrugged. "He is who he is. Can't change that."

Jasmine growled. "Unbelievable!" Then she stood up and made her way to Dick's spare bedroom.

Dick went after her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going. I didn't come here to hear an endless amount of excuses of how he never does anything wrong and how it isn't his fault when he occasionally does." She said while zipping her jacket, then she put on her domino mask and went to the window. She was about to fire a line when Dick grabbed her arm.

"At least tell me where I can find you. I don't want to lose you again." He said with a truly sorrowful voice and hugged her.

Jasmine's face softened a bit and she hugged him back. "I'll be here tomorrow at midnight. Just make sure you're there."

Then she liberated herself from his arms and the next moment she was gone. She didn't look back and went directly to her apartment. Once there she took another shower and went to bed to try and get some sleep. She felt bad about leaving Dick like that but she'd just had enough, maybe tomorrow they'd talk some more.

* * *

 _Please follow or review if you like it and feel free to check out my other fic._


	5. Chapter 5

_Here's my Christmas present for you guys, I meant to post it yesterday but there weren't done so second day of Christmas will have to do. A new chapter for 'Related' and 'Justice or Revenge?' and the prologue to a new story that I'm writing 'Red daughter'. Merry Christmas and please let me know what you think. And thanks to anyone who left a review earlier. Enjoy!_

 _Reader IM: sorry for confusing you but Jasmine isn't Chinese, she just started out as Red Hood in Hong Kong which makes her in my eyes a Chinese crime lord. And I'm not planning on doing any pairings, I see them as a family which would make pairings a bit weird._

* * *

Dick watched Jasmine leave and stood there quite some time after that, not really knowing if he should be happy that he had his sister back or sad because of how damaged life had left her. He wanted to help her but to do that she had to let him which would be difficult because of her reluctance to ever let someone help her. She wasn't used to getting things for free so she didn't trust it when they did. So now he had to find a way to get her defences down and to make her trust him, not an easy job. But it would all have to wait for the next day, now it was time to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Dick called Tim to see if he was free that afternoon so they could meet and talk. He wanted to explain as much as possible what was going on and help Tim with whatever it was that was bugging him. They agreed that Dick would come to Tim at 5 PM, after Tim was done with school.

So now Dick only had to find a way to get though the day and keep himself distracted from everything that had happened in Blüdhaven. He could try to find where Jasmine lived but then again even Batman hadn't been able to figure that out so there wasn't that big a chance that he would. Although he knew who to look for. He could always try, right? Yeah, right! As if she would be using her own name. Without Oracle he didn't really have a chance of finding her so he would have to wait and see if she would appear when they had agreed.

Not knowing what else to do he decided to go for a run. Hopefully he'd be able to find something useful to do afterwards and anyway running would help him to make sense of everything that had happened during the last 48 hours. After all it didn't happen every day that you tried to capture a lethal vigilante and crime lord who turned out to be your sibling, your supposedly dead sibling who on top of all that turned out to be a sister instead of a brother like you had always thought.

Yeah, a run really did sound nice after all that.

When he was ready he left the house and started running. Almost immediately regretting not wearing a jacket. Not the best idea in December but he didn't want to go back so he just tried to ignore the cold. He didn't really care where he went as long as it could distract him. About thirty minutes later he found himself in midtown running behind a woman. He was surprised by how fast she was. She seemed to be running at about the same pace he was, which was far from slow now that his leg was mostly healed. It wasn't something most people were able to do, with him being trained from a really young age and all. He was quite intrigued by her. She hadn't yet noticed he was behind her, probably because she was listening to music through a headphone. She wasn't very tall but not really small either, about 5'7", had dark hair in a ponytail and a slim silhouette. Upon further inspection he concluded that he didn't know from where but was almost certain he knew her. It wasn't until he got a quick glance at her face when she turned a corner that he realized who she was and gauging by the look on her face she had recognized him too.

* * *

When Jasmine got up she was still way too tired for the amount of time she'd actually slept but she decided to get up anyway, not like she was going to get any more sleep with the frequency she got nightmares. And tonight hadn't even been a bad night, she'd slept more than she usually did and apart from nightmares she'd also had some dreams, nice dreams and that wasn't something that happened very often.

After breakfast she still felt like her head was filled with clouds so she figured it would be best to go outside for a while and what was better to do outside than take a good run. She felt like she could use the exercise and it would probably clear her thoughts a bit which could only be considered a bonus.

She changed out of her nightclothes, located her iPod and left her apartment. She decided to just stay in the neighbourhood since the sky looked rather grey and the weather forecast had predicted snow. She reminded herself that she needed to run by the grocery store on her way back, she really needed to by some things to eat or she was gonna starve to dead somewhere in the near future. She'd been running for about fifteen minutes when she noticed that she'd picked up a tail, she couldn't see who it was without alerting the person that she'd seen him or her so she decided to take the first right which gave her the opportunity to glance at the person behind her. Who she saw wasn't who she had expected and by the looks of it he hadn't noticed it was her he'd been following either.

"Okay Dick, any reason you are tailing me?" She asked while slowing down to a pace that was much closer to walking.

He slowed down and came to walk beside her. "I hadn't noticed it was you, I was just running to get my head on straight again."

"Because of me?" She questioned.

"That's certainly part of it but no I already had a lot of drama going in my life before you decided to add some more to it." He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, showing his hopelessness.

"Hey! You're the one who decided to come after me." She felt like she needed to point that out to him and got an unimpressed look in return. She sighed. "Fine. We can go to my place if you feel like talking about it?"

He shrugged. "Why the hell not."

"Okay. We just have to go by the store on the way there, I'm almost out of food."

"Um okay."

"What?" She asked with a challenging look on her face.  
"Nothing, just weird to see you like this, to be doing normal things like this with someone in our family. Isn't something that happens very often, you know?"

Jasmine snorted. "Yeah, I can imagine that."

They walked together with Jasmine leading the way and when they reached the store she had been meaning to go to they went inside.

Dick watched her make her way through the shop and putting everything she needed in the shopping cart she'd picked up on entering. "So what do you need, little wing?"

She groaned. "You really needed to use that name, didn't you?"

He looked as innocent as he could muster. "What?"

She gave him a look that said 'really!' and shook her head. "Just get me some apples. They're over there." She pointed them out and he went to fetch them.

When he came back she was on her way to the cash desk, he sped up to catch up to her and when he did he put the apples in the cart and said "I take it we're done here."

She nodded but didn't verbally reply and just kept pushing her cart.

Once outside Jasmine handed Dick two bags and carried the other two herself before heading in the direction of her apartment, convinced that Dick would follow her.

And apparently he did since he asked "We going to your place?" after half a block.

"Yeah, it's about five minutes from here." She answered before adding as an afterthought "Don't dare to tell anyone, all right?"

He gave her a disarming smile. "Sure princess."

She snorted. "And I am definitely not a princess."

Dick shrugged. "You sort of are, you know? Being the adopted daughter of the prince of Gotham and all."

Jasmine shook her head. " _I_ was never adopted, Jason was."

He sighed. "And you are Jason which brings us full circle."

"No, it doesn't." She muttered under her breath.

Dick didn't dignify that with a response so they were silent until they reached the building where Jasmine lived. Once inside they took the elevator and jasmine pushed the button for the top floor. There she took a key out of her pocket and opened the door before putting down the bags and disarming the alarm system.  
Dick followed her inside and closed the door behind them. Jasmine then took his shopping bags and walked into a room, she paused in the door opening and said "You can take a shower if you want, there's a bathroom on your left."

He nodded before he realized that she wouldn't see that with her back towards him. "Okay."

* * *

When he got back she had food ready for the two of them and gestured for him to sit down and help himself. He did just that and when they were done he helped her to wash the dishes and put them away. Then she sat back down and asked "So what is exactly going on with you that bothers you so much?"

Dick sighed, he had forgotten that that was actually the reason he was there but sat down next to her and began explaining and kind of telling her the whole story. The story about everything had gone wrong with Blockbuster, how he'd gotten involved with Deathstroke and his daughter and how he'd tried to change her into a hero and how that had ended all wrong. He kept talking and talking with her being mostly silent except for some short statements or agreements. Before they knew it hours had gone by and Dick had to leave to be on time for his appointment with Tim. They went outside and it was snowing.

"Great, I was hoping for a white Christmas." Dick cheered.

Jasmine snorted. "You're such a child." She was about to walk back inside but reconsidered. "You can get home, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Uh huh" She reacted to that when she noticed the lack of a jacket and how he was shivering slightly. "Yeah, I see. I'll just bring you, okay?"

Dick smiled. "That would be nice, I guess. Thanks."

She nodded. "Just wait here, I'm gonna get my bike."

When she came out of the garage on her bike got on the back and they left in the direction of Dick's apartment. When they got there Dick got of the bike and Jasmine was about to leave when Dick spoke up.

"Can you just stay for a minute, I wanted to give you something."

"Um, okay?" Jasmine said and locked her bike before following him upstairs to his apartment.

There Dick disappeared in a room, the one Jasmine suspected to be his bedroom, only to reappear a minute later in another outfit and holding something in his hands. When he was in front of her he gave her the paper, which was what he had been holding. She read it before looking at him sceptically.

"You want me to go to one of 'dad's' Christmas Eve Balls? Why would I do that?"

He sighed. "I hoped that it might be an opportunity for you to see if you wanted to be part of the family again. Just come and see what you think. If you decide to stay there is a small Christmas party with just the family afterwards." He looked at her with those puppy eyes, telling her that he really hoped that she would come.

She looked away, not certain of what to do. On one hand there was the part of her that had always wanted a place to belong and that really wanted to go, but on the other hand there was this little voice that said that they had all betrayed her and that this was all just a trap. "I don't know, maybe." She told him just to say something.

He looked really hopeful knowing that at least she didn't dismiss the idea directly. Then his expression turned into a sheepish looking one. "Any chance you could take me a bit farther? I left my bike a few blocks from here."

She arched an eyebrow but shrugged. "Sure."

They went back to her bike and she drove to his bike with the help of Dick's guidance. Once there he gave her a hug, told her that he hoped to see her at the gala the next day and sped off because he was already late for meeting Tim.

* * *

Jasmine went back to her apartment and pondered on the idea of going to the gala. In the end she decided to just go and see how it went.  
Satisfied with that idea she went to take a little nap before she had to leave for patrol.

* * *

The next day she was still not certain why exactly she was going. Before seeing Dick again she hadn't even wanted to see any of them again except if it gave her a way to destroy them. Now she wasn't sure, she didn't really want to rid the earth of them anymore but her feelings towards them weren't entirely positive either. She still really wanted to hurt Bruce for betraying her and letting the clown live.

That thought made her mad again and unbeknownst to Jasmine her eyes had turned green again, she did however notice that she had to calm down or she would do things that she would probably regret later on.

It was already six PM and the invitation she got from Dick said that the Ball started at seven so she should start to get ready. She looked at the dress she had bought earlier that day, it was a strapless emerald green dress – like the green in her eyes (normally) –and she kind of actually really liked it. She had gone out looking for a dress not really knowing what to expect, it had been the first time she'd ever needed one and she'd never really payed attention to that kind of thing before. Well there was a first for everything, right?

She then saw that she had been standing there for almost fifteen minutes and that she needed to hurry if she wanted to be ready in time.

* * *

About an hour later she found herself standing in front of the entrance to the Manor really looking like she belonged there. She was wearing her dress with matching emerald and silver earrings and silver high heels. But she was having a hard time convincing herself to take the last few steps and o inside.

Then she heard voice behind her and was about to hide when she realized she could just as well go inside and see how it went.

She took a deep breath and walked inside where she was immediately met loud voices of people boasting about how successful they were – yeah, obviously that much hadn't changed – but then she saw him: Bruce! And Jasmine just froze.

* * *

 _If you notice any mistakes in my spelling or if I use expressions faultily please tell me, I don't have a beta and English is not my first language so I really appreciate you telling me so I can learn from it and not have to make the same mistake again._


	6. Chapter 6

_So here's the new chapter of Justice or revenge, sorry for the long wait but I haven't had a lot of time to write lately. I'll try to update more often in the near future but I can't promise anything. But anyway: please let me know what you think and enjoy!_

* * *

Dick was watching the entrance, hoping for Jasmine to make an appearance. He had been surprised that she didn't outright refuse to come the moment he had suggested it.

It made chances that she'd actually show up rise exponentially. He knew that it wouldn't be enough to get her to feel part of the family again, but it could be a start. Tim was there too and he thought that it might be a good idea to let her meet him although he was really hoping to reintroduce her to Alfred tonight. Alfred, who was to like a grandfather to all of them and the one person who Jasmine had trusted completely.

He was so submerged in his thoughts of what to do if she came that he almost missed Jasmine entering. She arrived after most people already got there but it wasn't like Dick had expected her to come while Bruce was addressing everyone who came inside.  
She looked absolutely stunning and he saw that he wasn't the only person to notice that, quite some people were looking at her so he tried to make his way to her quickly.  
But then she froze, he saw it happening and didn't know what could have caused her to react like that until he looked in the direction she was looking and saw Bruce.

Now he was really close to her, only a few people between them but then Jasmine started moving again.  
She turned around and almost ran out the door, Dick tried to follow her but once he was outside there was no trace of her.  
He tried to think of where she could have gone and hoped that she hadn't just left. He decided to go around the house in the hope that he would find her there.

* * *

Alfred was in the kitchen preparing some food for the waiters to distribute when he saw a young woman out of the window.  
She was standing with her back to him so he couldn't see who she was but guests weren't supposed to be there. The greenhouse was open if they wanted to get out of the ballroom for a moment to catch their breath but they weren't supposed to be at the back of the house.

He went to point that out to her and was met with a real December breeze when he opened the door that notified him to the fact that she had to be freezing. She was only wearing a strapless dress after all and it had been snowing for hours by now.  
When he came closer he saw how her shoulders were heaving as if she were crying or at least close to being in tears.  
He cleared his throat.  
"Pardon me miss, but you aren't supposed to be here."

The girl twirled around in surprise to look at him, she clearly hadn't heard his approach.  
She looked at him for a moment before averting her eyes to look at the ground instead.

Now that he saw her front he could see that she was younger than he had initially thought, probably not even out of her teens and even though her features were obscured by the shadows she was standing in he had the feeling that she looked familiar. He tried to brush it off as her simply being the daughter of one of the regulars at Bruce's parties or something but there was something at the back of his mind that told him that wasn't right.

"Sorry Alfred."

It was more mumbled than spoken but he heard it all the same.  
She turned as if she was about to go back to the front of the house when she passed through the ray of light from the kitchen window and for the first time he saw her face clearly

Alfred took a deep breath.  
"My word."  
He exclaimed it a bit louder than he meant to and the girl looked back at him to see him staring wide eyed at her.  
It were her eyes that convinced him that he was in fact seeing this. He could bet that there wasn't anyone else in the world with those peculiar eyes.  
"Miss Jasmine." He said, more than a bit stunned.

The girl flinched slightly before offering a hesitant and nervous smile.  
"Hi Alfred."

He looked at her as if she was a ghost, and if she was honest with herself she had to admit that wasn't too far from the truth. Not a lot remained of the girl he had known once upon a time.  
Then he came closer and touched her face as if he had to make sure that she wasn't an apparition so she put another smile on her face and was about to try and reassure him that she was indeed there when suddenly she felt his arms close around her.  
He was hugging her! And what was even more surprising was that she found herself hugging him back without giving it a second thought.

When Alfred ended the hug he took a step back to look her over.  
She was a fair bit taller than she had been three years before and looked a lot more girly than she had ever before.  
Her eyes, while the same colour at the moment, looked a lot older than they should and a lot less innocent as … well, not that she had been innocent when she came to live with them, but they still had that passionate look to them that told him that underneath it all she was still the same.  
The same girl with hope for a better world no matter how grim she thought it looked at the moment.

Then she spoke up.  
"Um Alfred? You alright?"  
She looked at him with worry clear in her eyes.

He smiled at her.  
"Yes my dear child. I just didn't think that I would ever get to see you again."

She snorted.  
"You and me both Alfie. You and me both."

* * *

Tim went into the kitchen looking for Alfred but found it empty. On further inspection he saw him through the kitchen window, hugging someone. A girl who he didn't immediately recognize.

When Alfred and the girl started talking he saw from Alfred's body language that he was confused, but Alfred was never confused! Who was this girl that she could confuse Alfred?

Then he recognized her, this was the same girl that Dick had run after earlier that evening. Maybe she was Dick's girlfriend?

No, that didn't sound right, Dick would have told him if he had a new girlfriend and this girl seemed much closer to his age than Dick's anyway. He was willing to bet that she was still a minor and Dick would never get involved with a minor.  
But it also didn't explain why Alfred had been hugging her.

There was definitely something about this girl that Tim had yet to figure out.

Looking through the window the watch the duo again he saw that the girl was looking straight at him.  
She locked eyes with him and he gasped. Those eyes! He knew those eyes, even though they had barely ever been directed towards him he had seen more than enough pictures to ensure him that he knew those eyes. Eyes that belonged to a dead boy, namely Jason Todd.  
But how could that even be possible, Jason was most certainly dead (he'd been to the funeral three years before) and then there was the fact that this was most certainly a girl.

There was however no question in his mind that this were in fact Jason Todd's eyes that he was looking at, there wasn't anyone else in the world with irises in that mix of blue and green and specks of gold.

That when he consciously noted that the girl (Jason?) still hadn't taken her eyes off of his. Then she averted her gaze and said something to Alfred while nodding in Tim's direction.

Jasmine was talking with Alfred when she felt eyes on her, looking over Alfred's shoulder she looked right into the kitchen where a boy stood. He was probably a little younger than she was and was looking at her with eyes full of thoughtfulness.

When she caught his eyes she saw his gasp and that was the moment she recognized him as the Drake boy, Tim. He had probably recognized her too because now he was blatantly staring with his mouth agape.

That was when she noticed that Alfred was looking at her expectantly. He had probably asked her something while she had been distracted by the Drake boy.

"Sorry Alfred but it seems like someone came looking for you." She said while nodding in Tim's direction.

Alfred tensed and whipped his head around to see who it was. When he saw Tim that tension drained from his shoulders and he looked at her again.

"Do you want to come in and meet master Tim?" He asked.

She grimaced. "The last time I spoke 'master Tim' he was so boring that it is actually the only reason I remember him."

He gave her a soft smile. "I'm certain that you will find him more entertaining this time around, miss Jasmine."

She sighed but followed him inside when he moved all the same.

There Tim's eyes almost bulged out the moment she walked through the door.  
She didn't know how to react to this apparently star struck boy but luckily Alfred stepped in.

"Master Tim, I know you have better manors than to stare at a lady like that." He scolded the boy.

Jasmine started laughing. "I'm no lady, never have been and never will be."

That seemed like it did the trick at unfreezing Tim as he actually looked at her again, although he still hadn't said anything so she decided that it was just as well if she was the one that start what was obviously going to be a very awkward conversation.

"Um hi." She offered with a little wave.

Tim blinked at this but seemed to find his voice as he asked. "Who are you?"

She grimaced, she had hoped he wouldn't be this direct but she supposed that it was just inevitable so she answered. "My name is Jasmine."

He nodded but looked like he wanted to ask more but didn't know how to phrase it so she sighed.

"Did you want to ask anything more or are you just gonna keep standing there like an idiot?" She made sure to smile positively vicious before adding "I'm in a good mood so I might even answer."

Tim looked mildly offended and terrified at the same time as he asked "Are you who I think you are."

She threw her hands in the air dramatically. "He actually uses his brain, ten points to the replacement." Before looking at him mockingly. "Yes, I am who you think I am."

Jasmine noticed that Alfred looked like he wanted to reprimand her for speaking to Tim like that when they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Alfred? Tim? Are you alright in there?" And then someone pulled at the door handle to open it.

Jasmine felt like she was going to panic but at the same time she felt like laughing at being interrupted by the one person she absolutely didn't want to see. Why did it have to be Bruce!?


	7. Chapter 7

So here is finally a new chapter, I'm really sorry it took me this long and i can't say when the next chapter will be done but I promise you that I am not abandoning this story, I will finish this, though it might take a while because right now I have a lot of schoolwork. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Tim saw how Jasmine tensed up at the sound of Bruce's voice and looked around as if searching for a way to escape. He didn't understand why but Alfred seemed to grasp what was going on and helped her hide in the provision room right before Bruce opened the door.

And then moments later Dick came barreling through the back door.  
"Hey, have you seen – oh, hey Bruce."

Dick's reaction to Bruce didn't help with Tim's confusion.

Now all of them were in the kitchen, Alfred finishing a dish for the guests, Dick looking around with big eyes that would have made him look innocent if he weren't Dick, Tim busy trying to make sense of everything that had just happened and Bruce looking at the three of them with a look of open suspicion. Of course Bruce would pick up on the fact that something was going on.

Then the clatter of something falling in the provision room made Tim jump. Bruce immediately went to open the door only to find the room – empty?  
Just a pan on the floor that served as an explanation for the noise.

Honestly Tim was surprised that Jasmine had gotten away, the only windows in the room were small and high up so it couldn't have been easy to get through, even less so while wearing a dress and high heels.

Of course her being trained by Batman made it much more plausible but still, this was more a sort of skill that reminded him of Catwoman and not of Batman.

Speaking of Batman, how he was looking at them, clearly suspicious, a look that wouldn't do anything to Alfred, made Dick gulp and made Tim want to confess everything he'd ever done wrong (not that he was actually going to do that, but still).

None of them told Bruce anything he wanted to hear so he went back to his guests, in his eyes the promise that he would find out what was going on.

* * *

Bruce wasn't sure what he was seeing.  
That girl, the girl on her own, near the doors of the ballroom, she looked so familiar. He could've sworn he knew her but couldn't remember for the life of him from where.

She was too young to have been one of his dates or hookups, not even out of her teens. And if she was one of his guests' children, he sure as hell didn't know whose.

Then, for a fraction of a second, she looked straight at him and he recognized her eyes, would recognize them anywhere, as the eyes of … his son? How could this girl have the same eyes as Jason? That unique blend of gold, blue and green was something he'd never seen on anyone else.  
It must've been a trick of the light, he decided, or his sleep deficit was catching up with him, or maybe even both.

But then he saw Dick and Tim as they came running through the doors only to stop abruptly once they saw that girl, the same girl Bruce had been looking at.  
They started a conversation with her with a lot of gestures from Dick in all directions that Bruce could easily identify as him being exited. And if he was reading the small tilt of the girl's lips correctly she was amused by that.

Now he wanted to know who she was even more, he was already quite sure by their interactions that Dick had been the one to invite her but judging by his behavior, she wasn't a romantic interest of his. Maybe he'd invited her for Tim? But Tim still needed time to work through the mess that his feelings undoubtedly were in the wake of Stephanie's death, only weeks previous.  
Bruce was sure that he wouldn't be over the death of his sort of ex-girlfriend this quickly, and there was no way Dick would be insensitive enough to try and set him up with someone else just yet, even if the two of them looked about the same age.

* * *

Dick saw how Bruce kept looking at the three of them and that Jasmine had noticed it too, judging by the way she was shifting in place uncomfortably.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked and she nodded gratefully.  
Tim shrugged. "We might as well go, not like we're needed here anymore."

Once they were outside the ballroom they went in the direction of the Cave.

"What are we gonna do?" Jasmine asked.

"What do you wanna do?" Dick countered.

She sighed. "Doesn't matter as long as it doesn't involve going back in there."

Silently Dick wholeheartedly agreed.  
"How about a quick patrol?" he asked hopefully.

Jasmine snorted. "As if I could be seen with the two of you."

Tim seemed confused. "Why can't you?"

Dick was about to explain when the murderous glare Jasmine sent his way made him reconsider.

"Hello-oo? Dead girl here? You might have heard about it sometime?"

Tim blushed and nodded.

Then they were in the Cave and Jasmine blanched. It looked as if she was going to faint so Dick reached out to steady her.

She turned to him with eyes as wide as saucers. "What is that?" she asked coldly pointing at the glass display with her old costume in it.

Right! Dick had forgotten about that and now that he thought about it he realized that she probably wouldn't appreciate seeing it.  
He sighed. "You know how he is."

Her eyes flashed that creepy green again and she growled. "Why the hell would he keep that? To remind himself of how bad a Robin I was, every time he looks at it?"

"No, no, of course not! I always thought that he did it to torture himself by being reminded that he failed to save you every time he comes down here."

She scoffed. "Yeah, right. As if he ever cared enough about me for that."

She paused and Dick was too stumped to reply immediately, did she really believe that? Luckily for him Tim came to his rescue.

"That isn't true! After you were – gone. He almost destroyed himself, he was well on his way to get himself killed by fighting some villain with absolutely no regard for his own safety and I thought that Dick was the only one who could help him but he didn't want to be Robin again," he looked apologetically at Dick, "now I understand why but back then I didn't. In the end I tried to help him as Robin because even Alfred thought that that was going to be it for Bruce. He thought that one night soon Bruce would go out and simply not come back."

For a moment Dick thought that Jasmine was actually going to attack Tim and he strengthened the hold he still had on her arm when a voice rung out from the shadows, startling the three of them.

"He's right, Bruce was trying to kill himself and I think that I speak for all of us when I say that I am glad that Tim was able to stop him from going even further down that road," a very calm Barbara said as she came into the light.

Dick looked sheepish and Tim uncomfortable at the sight of her while Jasmine used the distraction to get out of the hold he had on her arm.

"Ugh, that's gonna be a bruise in the morning."

That turned all the attention in the Cave towards her.

Dick felt extremely guilty when he saw her suppress a wince when she touched her arm. "I'm sorry, Jazz. I didn't mean to hurt you.

Jasmine waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, I know you didn't."

Dick was glad to see that her eyes looked normal again and that she didn't sound angry anymore. He didn't want to know what might have happened if Babs hadn't been there to diffuse the situation.

Then Babs was suddenly next to him – he'd never know how she managed to do that in a freaking wheelchair – and tugged Jasmine down by one hand so she could look her in the eye.

"It is you!"

"Um, hi Barbie?" Jasmine tried a half smile, half shrug, but Dick could see her uncertainty and even curiosity on account of the wheelchair and that reminded him of the fact that she had already been gone when the Joker got to Babs.  
And he hadn't been there for either of them, the one time he should have been there. The one time they could really have benefited from his presence by their side and he'd been off on some adventure with the Titans.

Then Barbara lightly touched Jasmine's cheek. "I thought it was you, I was tracking you all through Gotham but I just couldn't confirm your identity. Where have you been, Jay?"

Jasmine shrugged but it was with a small smile on her face still. "A lot of places actually, Barbie."

"Oh, Jay."

Then Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "What did you mean with 'tracking me', Barbie? I thought I was avoiding all the camera's."

Barbara chuckled. "Yes, you were, that's why I couldn't confirm your identity. I had you as a civilian and in costume but nothing concrete to connect the two, except for my gut was telling me it was you."

Jasmine huffed. "How is it that you are all so ready to accept that it really is me and not a clone or something like that, that I'm back from the dead, all without question?"

Barbara was the one to answer. "For one we've all seen far to many seemingly impossible things not to believe one more, and then there is the fact that we just want it to be you."

"And what if I was an evil clone or a shape-shifter or something like that sent by one of your enemies to trick you or something like that? Like Clayface, he could do this."

This time Barbara didn't smile. "Yes, we know. Something like that happened a while ago and I know for a fact that for a moment Bruce really believed that it was you, only to find out that it wasn't."

"Yeah, I heard about that from Talia," Jasmine murmured absentmindedly.

"Talia? As in Talia Al Guhl, daughter of Ra's Al Guhl, one of Bruce's deadliest foes?"  
The moment Barbara had asked, Jasmine's eyes opened wide. She clearly hadn't meant to reveal that bit of information.  
She nodded a bit haltingly.

"Why would Talia tell you that, Jasmine?" Dick asked.

"Because she's helping me, genius. Jeez, are you stupid?" Jasmine sounded mad again and by now Dick knew that that was something to avoid.  
"It's okay, li'l sis. We're just concerned. Talia isn't known to be all that generous when it comes to information.

He was relieved when Jasmine's stand became less rigid, less ready for a fight or flight response.  
"Well, she did tell me, she provided me with all kind of news from Gotham, but I doubt that it had the effect on me that she hoped it would have."

"What result?"

"I think she meant for me to hate Tim. Wants me to hate him dearly for some reason. But I don't know what that reason is."

"Don't you think she's trying to manipulate you?"

"Of course she's trying to manipulate me, I'm not as stupid as everyone seems to think I am." She was clearly getting agitated again.

"I never said you were, Jasmine," Dick tried to placate her.

"No, you only thought I was."

"I did not!"

"Riight, Bruce randomly brought an orphan from the street home, a street rat who hadn't gone to school in almost two years and the first thing that popped up in your mind was 'oh yeah, a little sibling'. Pardon me if I remember something else and I remember your reaction perfectly, so don't even try to deny it." She didn't even wait for him to reply before continuing. "Whatever, I'm done. I'm taking a bike and don't even try to follow me."  
And with that she left, leaving them all a bit stunned.

Tim was the first to recover. "What did she mean with the way you reacted, Dick?"

Dick sighed. "When she first came here, Bruce and I weren't on the best of terms and she might have gotten caught up in that."

"Might?" Barbara reacted rather harshly. "Dick, you made the poor kid think you hated her," and continued when Dick gave her a startled look, "did you really think I wouldn't have noticed? I only let you get away with it back then because you already had so many other things on your plate, but you couldn't look at her without having a resenting or at the very least disappointed look on your face. You'll never know how that must have hurt her, neither will I for that matter."

"But, Babs –"

Nothing 'but Babs', she didn't deserve that from you and you know it. She didn't have it easy living here either, you know, getting compared to you all the time. Even though the two of you are nothing alike. And when she tried to get to know you, you just told her that she was a stupid little street rat. And even when you finally got your head out of your ass and realized that you weren't being fair to her, you were still far too judgmental. She was just a little kid, you know, only twelve when we lost her."

Dick didn't even know how to reply to that. She was right, of course she was right and she must have known that he thought that because she gave him one last exasperated look before asking Tim to accompany her back to her father and leaving Dick on his own in the Cave.

* * *

Please let met know what you think (good or bad) by reviewing, liking or subscribing. And check out my other stories if you want.


	8. Chapter 8

So, here's another chapter, hope you like it. Enjoy.

* * *

Jasmine was sitting on the edge of a roof, looking out over Gotham. Her helmet was next to her on the roof, giving the cool winter winds the opportunity to hit her in the face hard but she welcomed it. It made her more alert and she needed to think.  
To be honest she had expected Dick to come by her apartment sometime during the past day to apologize for what he had said before she had left the Cave. She'd gotten numerous text messages from him, explaining that he hadn't meant to hurt her like that and she knew he meant it but she really liked to see him torment himself. It wasn't nice, but then again, she wasn't very nice in general and it was fun, so not something she had done a lot recently.  
But she'd also been meaning to tell him that she didn't blame him, if only he would have come by her apartment so she could have told him that…  
But now it was late and she should start her patrol if she wanted to see her bed sometime before sunrise.  
She put on her helmet and got up, ready to leave the roof when she heard a soft 'thud' behind her.  
She turned around.

"Was wondering when you'd show up, - "

She had wanted to say Dick but swallowed it when she saw who was actually standing behind her. Batman!  
She had to admit that she'd both been hoping for and dreading seeing him again. She had no idea if he knew who she was, she hoped he didn't but with him you never knew.  
She became painfully aware of the fact that she had frozen the moment she saw him when he advanced on her.  
Then he spoke.

"Red Hood."

She made a mock revere.

"At your service."

She would have grinned but there was no way he would see that while she was wearing her helmet.

He got even closer, looming over her in an attempt to intimidate her, but she had built up an immunity to his looming during her time as Robin, not that he knew that, but still.  
She noticed how much more lines his face had. He'd become so old! She hadn't expected him to, in her mind he'd always stayed the same as he'd been.

"Why are you here?" Batman growled.

"Enjoying the view?" She tried but he obviously hadn't grown a sense of humor in her absence since it resulted in him looming even more over her. Clearly he was hellbent on getting her intimidated.

She sighed.

"Just leave me alone, will you? 's not like I'm doing anything wrong."

She couldn't see it because of his mask but she just knew that he was frowning.

"How old are you?"

She became suspicious.

"Why would you care?"

He sighed and instantaneously seemed a lot wearier than he had a moment before.

"Because you sound more like a sulking teenager than a supervillain getting ready for his next big scheme."

So, Bruce thought that she was a he, she almost snorted at that.

"And what if I am? You're gonna scold me and make sure I get home before dark? Fat chance, old man."

She was agitating him. The way he clenched his jaw told her all she needed to know.

"I repeat, how old are you?"

She could hear the threat behind the question but she wasn't in the mood to answer so she decided to instead let herself fall backwards of the edge of the roof she'd been standing on the entire time.  
But the Bat must have known what she intended to do because he caught her arm, just before she was out of his reach.

"hey!"

"And where do you think you're going?"

She opted for sass. "Why, home of course, to my oh so loving mother and father and a plethora of wonderful siblings."

His mouth became that hard line it always did when someone said something that did not amuse him.

"I'll ask one more time, how old are you?"

It was not like she was going to get away, his grip was like a vice so she'd probably have a better chance of fighting off the whole League of Assassins than of escaping out of his grip without doing something stupid. Heh, maybe answering him wasn't such a bad idea after all. Not like it meant that what she said had to be true.  
She made her stance as defiantly as possible with him still gripping her arm before answering.

"I'm 19."

"No, you're not."

"And how would you know?"

He gave her a glare, not in the least muted by his mask and yeah, of course he knew she was lying. He always knew when people were lying, he didn't even need to see their faces. Well, that was obvious since there was no way he could have seen her face just now.

The next time he spoke it was less of a gravel and with a hint of worry in his voice.

"How old are you really, kid?"

Frustrated by her limited options she sighed. "Sixteen, all right! I'm sixteen, you happy now?"

He gave her a curt nod and pulled her completely back on the roof.

"Where are your parents?"

She gave him a look that she was sure translated to 'are you fucking kidding me', even through her helmet.

He came to his own conclusions.

"You don't have any, do you?"

She scoffed. "Like you'd care and it's not like I can't take care of myself anyway. Haven't needed anyone in a long time."

Okay, that was not completely true, she wouldn't be standing there if it hadn't been for Talia, but Bruce didn't need to know that.  
Maybe she did have some kind of mother in Talia. Huh, she'd never thought about it like that but Talia was actually the closest thing to a parent she had these days.

In front of her the Bat sighed. "Yes, I guess you can. You'd have to."

She frowned, what did he mean by that?

Batman began to steer her towards the staircase that came out on the roof, clearly with the intension to get her down to street level in a way that didn't require freefalling.  
She dug her heels in the roof.

"Where are you taking me?"

"A place to sleep for now, in the morning you can tell us how you know so much about us. And don't even try to deny it, I know it was you by the docks a few days ago."

She dug her heels in even deeper and balanced out her stance.

"I think not. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Batman was about to reply when someone landed on the roof, concealed by shadows.

"Are we assaulting young girls now, Batman?"

Batman sighed. "Catwoman."

Then he seemed to realize what she had said.

"Girl?" He looked her over intently. "You're a girl."

She felt a smug grin find its place on her face and nodded.

"Yep, one hundred percent a girl."

Catwoman laughed out loud.

"I'm surprised that you even noticed she's a child."

Jasmine could see Batman narrow his eyes under the mask.

"How long have you been listening in?"

Catwoman strutted towards them.

"Long enough, darling."

She came to stand beside Batman and lightly put her hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you let her come with me and I'll make sure she has a place to sleep for the night."

Jasmine began to feel a bit left out, they were talking about her after all.

"Um hello? Standing right here, you know."

Catwoman waved a hand.

"Hush, sweetie, the grownups are talking."

She also gave Jasmine a look that translated to 'I'm your best chance of getting out of here so you'd better let me get on with it', or at least something meaning essentially the same thing.  
Before turning back to Batman, who now seemed a lot more like Bruce than Batman. Huh, had the two of them finally gotten together in her absence? Made sense that Talia wouldn't tell her about other romantic interests of her 'beloved'.  
Batman looked at Catwoman in what had to be the most piercing way possible.

"All right, but you make sure to keep her there, I still want her to answer some questions."

Jasmine was surprised at how graciously he took his defeat, maybe he had changed even more than she had previously thought?  
Grumbling he let her go but not without thrusting her in Catwoman's direction. When she turned around to give him one last glare (she was pretty sure they translated quite well even through her helmet), he was gone in real Batman fashion.  
She snorted and Catwoman, who was now standing beside her, huffed.

"He's such a sore loser."

That made her laugh. "And here I thought that it didn't go too badly."

She turned her head a little to look more in Catwoman's direction.

"Thanks, by the way, I really didn't want to go with him."

"Yes, I could see that. Care to explain why?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Not really."

Catwoman crossed her arms over her chest, probably hoping to look intimidating.

"I did just save you from Batman."

"I could have fought him off." Jasmine retorted indignantly before continuing. "I just didn't want to want to tip my hand."

Catwoman looked at her sternly.

"So, you are an aspiring villain?"

"No." She was quite adamant about that. "I just want to do what needs to be done." She paused for a moment. "And I might have some unfinished business with Batman."

Now Catwoman seemed curious. 'What did he do to you?"

"It's not what he did but what he didn't do that bothers me."

"But you know him?"

Jasmine didn't know where that came from. "Why would you say that?"

Catwoman gave her a knowing smile.

"You talk about him as if you know things most people don't."

Jasmine had the urge to mirror that same smile.

"As if you don't."

"At first it seemed as if her answer amused Catwoman but then she sighed. "Could you please take off that helmet, it's really disturbing to talk to."

Jasmine laughed. "Yes, I know, it's one of the reasons it looks the way it does." But she did as Catwoman asked and took off her helmet.

"Yes, much better. Always nicer to talk to someone when you can actually see their face, or well, at least most of their face."

Jasmine grinned, she'd been wearing a domino mask underneath her helmet, an old habit that suited her well enough. She'd learned the rules of having a secret identity early on, after all.

"You do know that this is what they call overkill, right?" Catwoman continued.

Jasmine shrugged. "Safety precaution. I'd like to keep my identity a mystery just a little while longer."

Catwoman seemed to consider that. "All right. We can go to my house now or do you need to do something first?"

"I suppose Gotham will survive a patrol-less night."

"When she said that Catwoman looked at het strangely.

"Do I know you?"

Jasmine shook her head. "No, I don't think you would."

"But I have known you?"

Sighing Jasmine turned around.

"Look, can we not go there, right here and now."

Catwoman nodded.

"All right, bed time for little girls, then."

"Hey!"

Jasmine let out an indignant noise. She was not a little girl.

Catwoman looked her straight in the eye.

"You're only a child, - um, what do I call you actually? Seems a little unfair, you knowing my name but me not knowing yours."

Jasmine snorted.

"Catwoman is not your name and we both know it but you can call me Red Hood if you'd like."

Catwoman looked both shocked and as if she had expected that name when she said it.

"You do know that you're not the first to use that name?"

"I do."

"And that he might not appreciate you using it?"

Jasmine grinned savagely.

"That, I'm counting on."

"Have you even seen him in real life? Because I can tell you, you don't want him as your enemy if you don't need to. Even Batman has trouble apprehending him."

"Who said anything about apprehending him?"

Catwoman sighed. "What did he do to you?"

Jasmine felt the rage rising within her just at the thought of that.

"You don't want to know."

Catwoman seemed to take that as a challenge.

"Oh, but I do."

Jasmine sighed inwardly. She obviously couldn't tell the truth but she couldn't say nothing either.

"He crippled someone I consider a sister and killed someone else."

Catwoman whistled. "yes, I can see where the grudge comes from, but you have to realize that he is not your everyday looney. He's even more dangerous than he looks."

"I know, believe me, I know. I've seen him up close more times than I care to count."

This time Jasmine wasn't grinning, she felt more like crying. If she could avoid ever having to see that pasty-faced monster again, she would. But she couldn't, she just couldn't let him go free, unpunished for everything he'd done. Not just to her and Barbara, but to all his victims. Even though she really disliked referring to herself as a victim, she wasn't some weakling who needed someone's shoulder to cry out on when things got bad, after all.

Now Catwoman looked concerned.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Not entirely sure of what Catwoman meant Jasmine answered.

"Batman? No, he doesn't hurt 'children'."

The 'children' she said with so much sarcasm induced in her voice that Catwoman couldn't have missed how Jasmine felt at being included in that group.

It made Catwoman smile slightly before her face returned to concerned-looking.

"Good, but I meant the Joker."

Oh! Jasmine hadn't thought about that. Well, of course he had hurt her, that wasn't even in question but a bit unbelievable. So, she settled for saying that "It doesn't matter. I'm fine."

And she could see that Catwoman didn't believe single word of that but she didn't say anything back so she had probably decided that Jasmine wasn't going to answer her, no matter what she did.  
She motioned for Jasmine to follow her and jumped to an adjourning roof. Jasmine decided to do as she asked and followed her. Ten minutes later they entered an apartment that presumably belonged to Catwoman.  
It was the penthouse of a building in a neighborhood that was considered higher middle class.  
Not exactly where she would have pictured Catwoman living and when she looked around inside she understood why. This wasn't really where Selina Kyle lived but rather one of her aliases.  
Made sense, Selina had no reason to trust her enough to take her to her real home.

"So, Selina, where do I get to sleep?"

As Jasmine asked it, she could see Selina's shock at realizing that Jasmine knew her name, but before long that shock turned to resignation. Eventually Selina sighed.

"I should have guessed that someone who knows Batman, would know me as well."

She looked curiously at Jasmine.

"Does this know that I get to know your name as well? Even grounds and all that."

Jasmine grinned.

"And where is the fun in that."

"At least take your mask off, it can't be comfortable to sleep with that thing on."

Jasmine shook her head, she just couldn't take the risk that Selina might recognize her, it would complicate her plans way too much. There were enough people out there who knew who she was already, no use adding any more to that list.  
Come to think of the people who knew her, Tim Drake had not been anything like she had expected him to be. Before meeting him, she'd hated him for everything he represented, really hated him. But now, she had to admit that he seemed nice enough. A bit timid and nothing like Talia would have had her believe.  
It was almost like Talia had wanted Jasmine to hate Tim.  
Then Selina's voice filtered through her musings and she looked up.

"What?"

"I asked if you needed anything before I send you off to bed."

Jasmine scowled.

"You're not my mother."

Selina laughed.

"No, I'm not, but that doesn't mean I can't make you go to bed so that tomorrow, Batman can ask you his 'questions' and let me tell you, you'll want to be well rested when he does."

Jasmine groaned.

"Why can't he just leave me alone."

Selina looked at her in an incredulous way.

"Because he's Batman?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"No, that was not Batman, that was Bruce, who thought he recognized someone he never thought he'd see again."

For a moment, Selina looked seriously worried but then then she seemingly just gave up on understanding how Jasmine knew things no-one was supposed to know.

"And did he?"

"Did he what?"

"Recognize you?"

Jasmine smiled a little, devious smile, almost malicious.

"He might have."

Jasmine could see the moment Selina gave up trying to understand her for good.  
She sighed and motioned for Jasmine to follow her, Jasmine, pleased by how she'd been able to confuse Selina, followed her to what was probably a guest room. There Selina wished Jasmine goodnight and left her alone, probably to go to bed as well.

After Selina had left, Jasmine locked the bedroom door and left through the window.

* * *

Please let me know what you think, I enjoy every bit of feedback that I get.  
Liking and subscribing is also very much appreciated. Thank you :)


	9. Chapter 9

_And here is finally chapter 9, hope you like it._

* * *

Jasmine woke up groaning, her head felt like it was about to split and she felt sick to the stomach. She was laying on a hard, cold surface and as far as she could see it was pitch black so but she could feel that both her wrists had cuffs around them and these cuffs had chains connected to them. When she followed the chains she found that they bound her to the surface underneath her, she suspected that it was concrete floor.  
All these things together told her she was obviously not in her own bedroom but where was she and how had she gotten there? Those answers were harder to get by.

* * *

Batman didn't know what to do. It was a feeling he despised and therefor avoided. He wasn't handling it very well and he knew it.  
When Selina had called him, she'd told him that the girl was alone and that he could expect her to escape any moment and indeed she had.  
But that was where things had gotten tricky. For a while he'd been able to follow her on several security cams without a problem but then, at one point, she had disappeared and hadn't appeared again.  
He'd searched any and all available cameras and had even asked Oracle for assistance, but the girl seemed to have simply vanished.

And to think that until a day ago he didn't even know it was a girl he was looking for.  
That he had Selina to thank for.  
That and the fact that now he knew even less what to make of the Red Hood, except that, after seeing her without her helmet, he was now reasonably certain that she was the same girl as the one who had been at his fundraiser the earlier day. The girl his sons knew.

Because of the domino mask he couldn't confirm her identity but he was quite sure that it was her.

But then how did Tim and Dick know her?  
He didn't think it probable that she went to school, seeing as she had practically admitted that she was an orphan and he knew from experience that schoolgoing children and nighttime vigilantism were a trial not to be taken lightly. So, a girl without any parental supervision wasn't likely to go to school when she was also out and about at night.

Another reason for him to find her, a child her age shouldn't be on their own, no matter the circumstances.

But that still begged the question: how did Dick and Tim know her?

A vigilante or villain in Gotham (the question was still out on that) normally went out of their way not to meet anyone connected to the Batclan (as he knew they were commonly referred to). Befriending them seemed especially strange, except if maybe the girl didn't know about their alter-egos, but then why had she been there?

An orphan from Gotham wasn't something you'd expect to find at one of his fundraisers, save for Bruce and his sons. Except if there was a rich, orphaned teenager in Gotham that he had somehow missed. But that seemed unlikely.

And then there was the uncanny resemblance she bore to Jason. At first, he hadn't seen it because he hadn't been looking for it, but later he'd realized that that was the reason the girl had looked so familiar.  
Only in sex and age did she seem to differ from his deceased son.

After seeing the resemblance he'd tried to imagine what Jason would have looked like if he had ever gotten the chance to reach the ripe age of sixteen. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't imagine him looking any different from how he had at age twelve. It had been almost four years since he had lost Jason but he still missed the boy every day.  
Jason had really been his son, where Dick and Tim had had their parents before they came in his care, Jason had had no-one. His mother had tried to take care of him but Bruce knew that Jason had had to take care of her instead from an early age because of her drug habit. And his father had simply never been there and when he, very rarely, was, he was not anything close to an ideal parental figure. Bruce suspected that he had at the very least beat his son, probably even without a reason to do so. Jason had never known what it was to be a child then and Bruce sincerely hoped that he had done everything he could to give Jason chances he'd missed out on in his early childhood.  
He still remembered meeting a nine-year-old Jason as if it were yesterday. How he'd thrown the tire iron at Bruce before running away, all the while cursing in some truly imaginative ways.  
Just thinking of it made Bruce smile, though it had a sad taste to it. God, what he would have to done to see Jason grow up. To see him do all those things that he never got to do, and never would. Bruce would never forgive himself for failing his son when he had needed him most.  
And the more he thought about the surer he became that if he hadn't questioned Jason on that rapist's death, hadn't grounded him from being Robin, hadn't let him run away, hadn't told him to stay put when he went after the joker. That if he would have handled any of those things differently, Jason would be alive today. That he would never have died.

All those mistakes and if he had just done one right he would now have three sons instead of just two. Maybe Tim wouldn't even have lost his father and he wouldn't have needed Bruce. Maybe he could have had a normal childhood.  
Maybe Cassandra would have benefitted from having Jason there too, he had always been talkative where Tim was silent. It could have helped Cassandra develop a broader vocabulary.

But there was no sense in second-guessing it all, it had happened and he had no way of changing any of it. The best thing he could do was to keep going and fight for the two sons and the daughter he had left.

Then he got a message from Oracle, she'd found the girl.

He opened the attached video-file and watched how the Red Hood was visible, jumping into an alley where a woman was being mugged. He recognized the alley, it was right where he had lost sight of the girl.  
On screen the Red Hood, without the helmet, was fighting against at least six muggers and it seemed like she could handle them, no problem, but then Bruce noticed something. There was a seventh guy. He had hidden himself behind a garbage container, but it seemed like he was getting ready to do something.  
And a moment later, when the Red Hood was done with the other six muggers and presumably went to check on the woman, he did. He pulled out a gun, though Bruce was relieved when he recognized it as a tranq gun, and shot at the Red Hood. Red Hood was hit in her neck, right above her collar.  
She turned around so quickly that the shooter edged back until he was standing with his back to the wall of the alley. Red Hood advanced on him and she looked really pissed. She had pulled out the tranq dart from her neck and dropped it to the ground before pulling out a very dangerous looking knife and looked as if she had every intent of using it.  
She showed almost no signs of being tranqued so Bruce deduced that the dart held only a very low dosage or Red Hood had built up an immunity.  
Then she was hit on her head with a pipe from behind and this time she did go down.  
Bruce saw how the woman the Red Hood had protected came to stand beside the first shooter, holding what he assumed was a lead pipe. She said something to the shooter but because the video didn't have an audio reel and the quality was too poor read her lips Bruce had no way of knowing what she was saying.  
Then the man picked up Red Hood and went to put her in a van that was waiting at the entrance to the alley. Then the woman went to get the men who had actually fought Red Hood.

And that was where the video ended.

Now Bruce knew he really had to find the girl.  
He called Oracle and while he was waiting for her to pick up he had to admit to himself that he was now even more confused about the Red Hood. This had been the first time he had seen the girl fight and her fighting style contained so many familiar traits, unfamiliar ones too, but the basis was what he'd taught all his Robins. He had also seen things that indicated that she had trained under the League of Assassins.  
But there were really to many similarities to his own fighting style for it to be a coincidence.

He didn't know what to think, she looked like one of his own, she fought like one of his own, but he had held Jason's dead body in his arms and also, this was a girl and Jason had been a boy. So, he very much did not know what to think.

Could this be some kind of miracle or was it just a cruel coincidence? It would not be the first time Bruce saw someone come back from the dead but, to his knowledge, it would be the first time they changed sex doing so. He did not dare to hope but what if that girl was actually Jason? What was he supposed to do then?

Then Barbara picked up.

"Hey Bruce."

"Do you know where they went?"

Barbara had worked with him long enough so that she wouldn't be deterred by his lack of pleasantries.

"I'm still piecing it all together. As you know security cameras are sparse in that part of Gotham so I have to guess which way they went every time I lose them on one cam. So far it seems like they aren't trying to get out of the city, the last camera I found has them speeding in the direction of the harbor, but they keep changing direction so I'm not sure.

Bruce could hear Barbara's distress. Why was she so worried about a girl she didn't even know? Especially for Barbara it seemed strange. Yes, she did everything in her power to help people but normally was too professional to worry about them while she worked. She only reacted like this when it was personal.  
So what had brought this on?

"I'm going to the harbor. Keep me posted."

With that he closed the connection and went to put on his uniform.  
He was almost ready when he heard Alfred coming down the stairs.

"Is everything all right, Master Bruce?"

"It will be, Alfred, just what seems like an aspiring vigilante who's gotten herself in some trouble."

"All right. Is there anything will be needing me for this evening?"

"No. Except… could you prepare for a guest."

"Upstairs or downstairs, Master Bruce?"

Bruce hadn't considered that.

"I'll let you know."

"Very well, Master Bruce. And do try to be careful."

Bruce grunted. Alfred always said something similar before he let Bruce go.

Alfred nodded and left him alone in the Cave.

Bruce finished gearing up and left the Cave in the Batmobile.  
He raced towards Gotham, hoping for Barbara to call him with an update.

But when he arrived at the harbor he hadn't had word from her yet. He left the car in an alley that reminded him of the one where he had first encountered Jason. Just as gloomy and damp and miserable.

But that alley was all the way in Crime Alley. He was only thinking about that now because of his musings earlier about Jason and the girl that resembled him so much.

Trying to rid himself of all his distracting thoughts, he took to the roof and left the alley behind him.

He went in the direction of the main docks, though it was unlikely they meant to leave the city on a boat. Then the highway would have been the smart choice.

Then his com crackled to indicate someone was trying to contact him. Then Dick started speaking.

"B, is everything alright? Agent A called me to warn me that you might do something stupid."

Dick didn't even need his reply to know that Bruce didn't believe that Alfred would say something like that.

"All right, maybe not in those exact words, but that's what he meant. So, what are you doing that has him worried? Is he right? Are you doing something stupid?"

Dick was rattling so fast that Bruce couldn't get a word in between.

"Nightwing, stop talking!"

When Dick silenced himself, he continued.

"I'm not doing anything unadvised. Just looking to have a talk with a new vigilante who most likely rubbed the wrong people the wrong way."

* * *

Jasmine was surrounded by dark, in itself not unusual but the chained-to-the-floor-part sure was. And this also wasn't her room or anywhere in any of her safehouses. So, the logical conclusion was that she was not wherever she was because she wanted to be, a thought supported by the chains.  
But she didn't remember going anywhere, willingly or otherwise.  
The headache was starting to ebb away and her eyes were getting used to the darkness so she could distinguish different objects in the room? They looked like crates. Was she in some sort of storage room?

That was the moment she heard maniacal laughter that she would recognize everywhere.

* * *

Bruce was getting an incoming transmission from Barbara when he saw something that concerned him. A bright light was flickering against the night sky. A fire.  
He hadn't heard anything so he could probably rule out an explosion but that didn't mean it wasn't still dangerous. There were possibly enough flammable materials on the docks to burn the whole city down and by the looks of it this wasn't a small fire either. It would probably be best to call the fire department but he wanted to get a closer look ok it first. Maybe there was some connection between the fire and the Red Hood's abduction.

In the end, he went to investigate the fire on his own and made Alfred alert the GCFD and the GCPD.

Once there he saw that there had in fact been an explosion, a container was almost completely burned out. The containers surrounding it had, depending on their proximity and content, also exploded or been deformed by the heat of the explosion.  
There was no way anyone in close range to the explosion could have survived so he could only hope that this wasn't where the Red Hood had been taken.  
No matter what she had done or planned to do, she was just a child and didn't deserve something like this, no one did.

Bruce wondered if they had actually been after her or if it might be him they wanted. Red Hood had been lured in by a situation that would have attracted the attention of any of his associates, after all. And everyone knew that the vigilantes sanctioned by him where the only ones he tolerated in his city. Not to mention the trail they'd left behind. The longer he thought about it, the more convinced he got that it was all a bit too convenient.

Would his enemies kidnap a girl because of the remote chance that he might come for her?

He hoped not but this was Gotham so he had to admit that it was actually not an unprobable explanation.  
He sighed and activated his com to ask Oracle if she had found anything new.

"Batman? I think I found something. A car matching the description of the one we're looking for has just been spotted by some uniforms, speeding in the direction of the abandoned fun fare." She paused. "Do you think it might he 'him'?"

The him not even needing to be explained. What did that say about them as a whole?

Bruce didn't even want to think about that possibility. If it was true, the chances of getting the girl out alive and unharmed were slim at best.

"I don't think so. Last I heard he was still securely locked up in Arkham."

"And when has that ever stopped him?"

He had to admit that Barbara had a point, as much as he loathed to do so. The ferocity in her voice, however, told him that this was getting very personal for her.

But it was true, the Joker had barely, if ever, been stopped by incarceration. He always seemed to find a way out, somehow.

'Let's just assume that it's not him."

He knew that that wasn't enough for Barbara but she didn't say anything more so neither did he.

* * *

Jasmine tried to get away from the madman who was slowly closing in on her. He was holding the good ol' crowbar and she was very aware that she'd been stripped down to her pants and the tank top she wore underneath her armor. Her boots were gone, as were all her weapons. Only her mask was still concealing her eyes.  
On top of that there was the being-chained-to-the-floor-part that didn't help when with her trying to get away.  
The cuffs were too tight to even consider something like dislocating her thumps to slip out of them, and now it would have been too late anyway.

The Joker was standing right in front of her and he seemed ready to dish out hurt on her.

She was not going to enjoy the next few hours.  
And that was assuming she even survived that long.  
The Joker didn't really have a reputation for keeping his victims alive for a prolonged period of time.

"My my, you're a pretty one. Where did daddy Bats keep you for all this time? Worried about you, was he? But don't worry, sweetcakes, uncle Joker will take good care of you. After I'm done with you he won't have to worry about you any longer. Batsy will just have to come by and thank me later for helping him out."

Jasmine put on a brave smirk.

"And why would 'daddy Bats' even come for me? I'm not one of his birds."

The Joker hummed.

"No, I think you are. The whole fighting for the weak-thing is kind of his thing and even more telling is that Batsy has been searching the city for something or someone, ever since you fell into my trap."

Bruce was looking for her? Why would he do that? Like she'd said, she was not one of his birds, not anymore, and he had made it pretty clear that he didn't like what she had been doing so far. Well, that had been her intention but it didn't explain why he would be looking for her. Though it might be because he really wanted those questions answered.

The Joker smiled that chilling smile of his and Jasmine felt herself tense up. It was like she was back in that warehouse in Ethiopia, all those years ago.

"Hush now, little bird. Uncle Joker has to concentrate and children should be silent while the adults are working."

Jasmine braced herself when he raised his crowbar, she had no intention of dying again so she was determined to try avoiding him hitting her anywhere fatal. It would still hurt a lot but at least she wouldn't be too dead to feel the pain afterwards.

And somewhere in the back of her mind she found herself hoping for Batman to show up and rescue her, no matter how irrational that hope was and even though she knew she couldn't count on him to be on time when it really mattered.  
But she also knew that if he didn't come she was truly and utterly fucked.

Then the crowbar came down and hit her ribs hard. It really, fucking hurt but she managed to keep silent, save for a grunt. Hearing her scream would only encourage the Joker to hit her even harder.  
But keeping quiet didn't satisfy him either, if his frown was any indication. And the Joker frowning was never a good thing.

"Why don't you sing, little birdy? The last time I spent time with one of you he sang such a pretty tune, so why don't you?"

"I thought I had to be quiet. Make up your mind, will ya?"

She said it through gritted teeth and at the same time she kicked her legs out at him. They connected with his shins and he fell backwards.

She grinned and he certainly didn't like that as the first thing he did after getting back up was kicking her in the head.  
Well, she thought, at least he didn't use the crowbar, otherwise she'd probably have a cracked skull by now.

It didn't help with her already existing headache, though.  
He raised the crowbar again and she only just had time to brace for impact before he used it to hit her collarbone with a sickening crunch.

'Not good' was her last clear thought before the pain hit her. Then he hit her back, right on her spine, and she blacked out from the pain.

"If Batsy doesn't do it, I have to take it on myself to teach you birds some manners."

That was the last thing she heard before his boot connected with her head again and she lost consciousness.

* * *

Batman touched down in front of the gate and activated his com.

"Oracle. I'm at the fare."

* * *

 _So this was chapter 9, please let me know what you think and I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible._


	10. Chapter 10

_To Anon: thank you so much for your review, I really love getting them and replying to them. And I'm glad that you like the story, always nice to know that people enjoy my stories._ ㈴2

 _And here is chapter 10, enjoy._

* * *

Barbara was really, really worried. Bruce might not be convinced but she was almost certain that the Joker had been the one to take Jasmine. She had no way of proving it but she could feel it in her gut.

And if she was right and it was the Joker, they didn't have a lot of time left. They'd have to hurry or it would be too late for Jasmine. Again.

She was not going to let that happen, not on her watch.

Determined to do all that she could she called Dick.  
He answered after the second ring.

"Hey Babs, what's up?"

"Dick, I need you to come to the Clocktower, right now. It's about Jasmine."

Dick's reply was short and to the point.

"On my way."

Then he ended the call.

She hoped he wouldn't take too long to get to her but when she checked his phone's GPS she saw that he was in Blüdhaven. Bats and their masochism, she would never truly understand it.  
But that meant that it would probably take him a while to reach Gotham.

She didn't know what to do, it was the first time since Stephanie that one of their own was really in danger and there was nothing she could do.

Then she thought about something that she could do, even if she was confined to her tower. She could still check on the Joker in Arkham Asylum remotely.

She went back to her computer and started hacking into the Arkham internal cameras, which was embarrassingly easy. It didn't even take her a minute to get in, and it was actually harder to find the right camera but when she did she was relieved to see that the Joker's cell was still occupied, as it should be.

She was about to leave the system when she noticed something.  
The Joker seemed so small? She enhanced the quality of the image and what she got to see was the confirmation she had both needed and dreaded.  
The Joker's cell was indeed occupied, but not by the Joker. Instead there was someone who, considering his grin, had probably been dosed with Joker gas.

Barbara didn't know whether to sigh or scream. This was an endless cycle and she was sick of it.

How was anyone supposed to move on with their life when they kept being confronted with that which had destroyed it in the first place?  
But enough contemplating that for now, she had to let Bruce know that the Joker was once more free.

* * *

Dick was speeding over the express road between Blüdhaven and Gotham on his bike, going as fast as he could without causing any accidents. But it still felt as though he was going too slow.

The moment Barbara had told him that something was going on with Jasmine he'd been ready to do whatever it took. It didn't matter that she was probably still mad with him, or anything else either. He was not going to risk losing her again. She was his little sister and he was her big brother so he was going to do what big brothers were supposed to do and be there for her when she needed him.

It still hurt that Bruce hadn't told him that she had died as Robin. He hadn't even been invited to the funeral. The funeral of his own broth-sister. Sibling. (it was complicated, all right.)

It had been strange, to say the least, to learn that his brother was actually his sister. He understood why she hadn't told him but it still stung because it reminded him how little they had known each other.  
Apparently only Alfred had known, but Dick was convinced that Alfred was some kind of godly ninja. An omnipotent, all-knowing being sent to keep them as sane as possible.

He didn't think that any of them would have survived as long as they had without Alfred. He didn't know if anyone would survive Alfred being out of his depth, though he knew that he wouldn't.

When Alfred had told him that he was worried about Bruce, Dick had already suspected that it had something to do with Jasmine and when Bruce had told him that he was looking for a new, young vigilante, Dick had hoped that the two of them talking would be enough to get them both to realize that they were being pigheaded idiots. He should have known better.

This was Gotham, nothing ever went like you would want it to.

Dick sighed before trying to pick up speed again. He maneuvered around a truck that seemed to exist to slow him down, narrowly avoiding a collision with a muscle car that didn't look like anything that belonged in Gotham. Then he got to a quieter part of the road where he could finally win some of the time he'd lost back.

* * *

Bruce realized they'd been played the moment he saw the van.  
It was parked right in the middle of the fare. It stood there abandoned and on closer inspection he noticed tire tracks next to it. The van had been exchanged for another car. And now they didn't know what kind of car they were looking for.

He radioed Oracle.

"The fare is a bust. They changed vehicles."

Barbara's reply was not what he expected it to be.

"The Joker is not in his cell, he has escaped, again."

Bruce felt the urge to curse. Why did it always have to be him? Couldn't it be someone simple for once? Like the Riddler or Ragdoll or someone like that? Was that really too much to ask for?

He thought of the implications of Joker's escape. It meant that it was very well possible that Barbara had been right when she suggested that the Joker might be the one behind the abduction of the Red Hood.  
And if that was true they had to make haste. He would certainly keep the girl alive until Bruce arrived but in what state?

"Oracle, do you have any idea where they might be?"

He could hear her sigh on the other side of the line.

"My equipment tells me that he hasn't even left Arkham, so no help from that end. I'm going through all of Arkham's security footage manually right now but that might take a while."

She didn't say 'a while we don't have' but he heard it anyway.

"All right, keep me posted."

Barbara hummed and signed off.

Bruce went over all the information he had. One: Barbara found no evidence that the Joker had left the asylum. And Bruce had learned to trust Barbara when it came to computers so there was a distinct chance that the Joker was in fact still in Arkham.  
Secondly: Bruce knew of old catacombs underneath Arkham and with the amount of times the Joker had been put in Arkham and managed to escape it wasn't unlikely that he knew of them too.  
What if he had gone there to have time to do what he wanted with the girl without being disturbed. It certainly sounded like something the Joker would do.

Convinced that the fare was not going to be of any more help, Bruce went back to the Batmobile and made for Arkham Asylum.

* * *

Barbara was going through tons and tons of footage from Arkham, hoping to find the Joker but so far her endeavors had been unsuccessful.

She was starting to lose hope. So far, she hadn't even been able to find exactly when the Joker had been able to escape his cell or how the other man had gotten in there. And she also hadn't found any evidence that the footage had been tampered with.

She'd already tried to call Dick several times but he wasn't picking up.

She didn't want to have to be worried about him too, one person at a time was all she could handle right now, especially with the Joker involved.

Then her security was remotely turned off. She looked for who it was and recognized Dick's code. He was finally there, now she could ask him why he hadn't been answering his phone.

She heard him open the window behind her before she saw him, she knew it was only because he wanted her to hear him, he was nice like that.

When he closed the window, she reactivated the security around the tower and by the time she was done Dick was standing beside her. To say he looked worried would be putting it mildly.

"Babs, what's going on with Jasmine and why do you have Arkham security footage pulled up on your screen

This was going to be fun, Barbara thought.

"Jasmine was ambushed a few hours ago. She got taken and the trail led to the old fare so I thought it might be the Joker but Bruce wasn't convinced. He really wasn't on his game and I don't know why."

She paused trying to remember to see if she'd said everything she needed to say.

"Oh yeah, the Joker is out of his cell and I can't find how he did it."

When Dick didn't say anything, she looked up at him and saw he had been stumped into silence. Then he seemed to shake it off.

"You mean that that lunatic has her again?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm afraid he does and that's why I called. I can't find any footage of the Joker escaping so could you please go to Arkham and see if you can find anything there."

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, God. Yeah, I'll do that."

A relieved sigh left Barbara.

"Thank you."

Dick nodded and headed back to the window, glad he was already wearing his Nightwing costume so he could leave right away. Barbara disabled the security and he opened the window.  
Just before he jumped of the window ledge she heard him mutter 'I can't lose her again, I won't lose her again'.

* * *

The first thing Bruce heard when he entered the catacombs was demented laughter. At least he now knew that his hunch had been legitimate. The Joker was in there somewhere.  
And he was laughing which never boded anything even remotely good.

Bruce followed the sound, hoping that it would bring him to the Joker and his victim.

He rounded corner after corner as fast as he could and before long he got to an open space, lighted by a single bulb.  
And in the halo of light that bulb provided was the girl, the Red Hood. She was only wearing pants, a tank top and a red domino mask and the Joker was kicking and hitting her. He seemed to be having a good time.  
The girl, however, looked as though she was unconscious or at least she did until she shifted minutely and groaned softly.

Bruce spurred into action and immediately five henchmen of the Joker came at him. He made short work of them, surmising from the state the girl was in that he had no time to waste. He didn't even want to know how long the Joker had been at it.

The moment he was done with the henchmen his attention turned to the Joker.  
And at that same moment the Joker turned towards him.

He was holding a crowbar and looked like a grumpy child who'd been interrupted while playing his favorite game.  
And considering what he had been doing that probably wasn't very far off the mark.

"Batsy, I was waiting for you to show up but then I got bored so I started without you. Hope you don't mind."

He gestured at the nearly unconscious girl on the floor, framed by the light from the single bulb.

"I know, I know. Not nearly as spectacular as last time but I had to make do with the materials at my disposal. And we both know that the last birdboy was a one-time deal only. From now on you'll have to finish the task yourself. Which reminds me, you still haven't thanked me for that."

Bruce gritted his teeth. He had to fight the urge to kill the Joker right then and there but if he kept talking any longer Bruce could not be held responsible for the consequences. On some level, he really regretted resuscitating the Joker after Dick killed him.  
He punched the Joker in the face with a lot more force than he usually would but he just couldn't help it. No one pushed his buttons like the Joker did.

He handled the Joker as quickly as he could, trying to ignore all the japs and snipes the lunatic send his way and knew that he would regret breaking so little of his bones later on, but he also knew that the girl needed medical attention and soon. She really didn't look good.  
He bound the Joker up and walked up to the girl.

She was looking at him with unfocused eyes through the broken lenses of her mask that told him that she had, at the very least, a concussion. Her left eye was almost completely closed from a bruise and her face and arms and basically any visible patch of skin was starting to turn unsavory colors. And those were only the injuries that he could see right away. Surely she had a lot more than just those.

He crouched down and picked her up bridal style. For a moment, her eyes focused and she looked straight into his eyes. She spoke one word through her chapped lips, a bit slurred and very quiet but still understandable.

"Dad?"

Bruce almost dropped her from sheer shock, his training being the only reason he didn't. It simply wasn't possible! Was it?  
Looking straight at her he saw just how familiar she actually was. She didn't just look like Jason, she was Jason. Well, not counting the fact that she was a girl of course.

But now was not the time. He had to get her out of there and fast. He could see her lose the fight to stay conscious and shushed her gently.

"Everything's going to be all right. I've got you."

That seemed to sooth her as she closed her eyes and burrowed a bit deeper into his chest.

He felt her body go lax and saw her face smooth out a bit, some of the pained lines disappeared, not all of them though. Even unconscious she was still in pain.

He hurried to the exit of the catacombs with his precious cargo securely in his arms and was surprised to find a very unhappy looking Dick waiting for him when he got out.

Dick threw one hard look at him and seemed intent on arguing with Bruce about something until he noticed what Bruce was holding. His expression completely changed into one of concern.

"Is that Jasmine? Please tell me you got there in time this time around."

He sounded even more concerned than he looked, a feat considering his expressive face.

When he processed the name Dick had used Bruce was struck by a bout of jealousy.

"She really is Jason, isn't she?"

At first Dick didn't answer and Bruce threw him a pointed look.

" _Isn't_ she?"

Dick finally responded with a nod.

"Yes, she is."

Bruce could feel the anger rising inside of him and felt the need to lash out.

"You knew who she was and you didn't tell me. You knew that she was out there. How could you, Dick? How could you?"

Bruce hadn't felt so close to giving in to his emotions in a long time and seeing Dick sag in at his words resulted in an odd sense of accomplishment. It was satisfying to know that he at least regretted not telling Bruce.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell you. She said she wanted to let you know herself in due time. And I didn't want to betray her trust."

Bruce looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms and was reminded of the fact that should hurry.

"Dick, we'll talk more about this later, for now I need you to drive us back to the Cave."

Dick looked at Jasmine too and Bruce could see the realization down on him that she needed medical care and soon.

"Yes, of course."

He turned to the Batmobile and slid into the driver's seat before opening the passenger's side for Bruce.  
Bruce sat down very carefully, trying to jostle Jasmine as little as possible.

Once Bruce was seated with Jasmine securely in his lap Dick sped off in the direction of the manor.  
Bruce looked down at the girl – Jasmine – in his lap, she looked so small now. He estimated that she couldn't be taller than 5ft 7 or 8. She'd looked so much bigger when he'd seen her earlier, all geared up and ready to go out on the town, as Dick would say it. A lot of that had probably been her boots, which he suspected had a platform, but he guessed that she also knew how to appear bigger than she actually was by commanding space with her body language.  
Now, however, she looked small and fragile and he felt a very strong urge to protect her.  
A big part of that was obviously the fact that he had just confirmed that the girl he was holding was his child, who he'd previously thought dead. He had quite a bit of trouble taking it all in, even considering the crazy world they lived in.

He wanted to ask Dick how long he had known but when he realized how focused on the road Dick was he decided that it could wait.  
He turned his attention back to Jasmine. Her face looked worse now than it had earlier. The bruise around her eye kept swelling and the rest of her face was also littered with scrapes and bruises, so much so that he felt the need to check for fractures.

He carefully sprayed the dissolvent for the glue that they used for their masks on her face and pulled it off.  
Without it she looked even younger and despite the heavy bruising it was easy to recognize the boy he'd known in this young woman.  
Because that was what she was, no matter how young she looked like this she was no longer a child. She had grown up and he had missed it all.  
He wanted to promise himself that from now on he would do everything he could to make it up to her, but knew from the start that he would probably never be able to do so.

He wasn't going to let her out of his sights ever again.

Then he remembered the reason he'd taken her mask off in the first place and tentatively felt her face for any fractures. He felt relieved when he couldn't find any, even her nose had somehow avoided that fate.

He was, however, concerned about the fractures that he could find. Bot her right leg and left arm were clearly broken, as were at least two of her ribs.  
And then there was the fact that she was unconscious. That was not good considering that she most likely had a concussion. Normally he would have shaken her to wake her up or something like that, but he didn't know how severe her other injuries were and he didn't want to make them worse.  
In the end he decided that it could wait until they were in the Cave.

After what felt like an eternity, though Bruce knew it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes, they arrived in the Batcave where Alfred and doctor Thompkins were waiting for them.

Bruce hadn't had the presence of mind to alert her so it had to have been either Dick or Alfred. Or maybe Barbara, no one else knew what had happened yet.

Nonetheless he was glad that she was there. He suspected that her expertise would be needed.

The moment he exited the car everyone swarmed around him and before his wits caught up with him his child had been whisked away to a bed and was being examined by doctor Thompkins.

He felt cold without the comforting weight against his chest but knew that time could very well be of the essence.

He started in the direction of the doctor to tell her that Jasmine had a concussion but Alfred send him a look that said 'if you know what is good for you, you will refrain from disturbing doctor Thompkins during her work'.

Bruce concluded that Alfred's looks were scarily eloquent and chose to let the doctor work in peace.

He went to take a shower and to change out of his uniform, then, because of a lack of anything better to do, he started pacing the Cave in an attempt to calm his mind, until Dick shot him a questioning look before shrugging and walking to the med bay.  
Bruce wanted to warn him to not disturb Leslie but then he figured that Dick probably already knew that.

* * *

Leslie had seen a lot in her life, but this, this was something else entirely.  
She knew who she was treating, thank god for Alfred warning her before she got to see her patient.  
But knowing and believing were two different things.

Still, she was glad that Dick had called her, her relationship with the family had been strained after all. Ever since she had told them that she refused to help Stephanie not that long ago.

But back to this girl, she definitely looked like Jason though it was strange to see him as a girl. Then there was the fact that this girl seemed to share none of her scars with the second Robin. So, if they were the same person, then how was that even possible? The amount of scars he, or she Leslie supposed, had had didn't just disappear.  
But then again, neither did being dead, and, while not in the best condition at the moment, this girl was very much alive.  
And now it was Leslie's job to keep her that way.

It was a good thing that the med bay in the Cave was so well equipped that it was basically a small hospital. She was going to need it.

* * *

Dick couldn't stand the nervous energy that was radiating off of Bruce so he left him to his sightseeing tour of the Cave and went to check on Jasmine and Leslie before going upstairs. There the situation wasn't much better. Alfred was stress baking, which wasn't assuring at all.

Normally Dick would have started some self-deprecating monologue to diverge some of their attention away from Jasmine but honestly, he himself was too shaken to do anything about it either.

They'd only just gotten Jasmine back, he couldn't lose her again so soon.

Wearier than ever he left Alfred to his baking and went to get a bike to go to Babs. She would help him, she always did.

* * *

 _Notes_

 _Earlier I mentioned Stephanie Brown regarding her supposed death. To anyone not familiar with this event in the comics: she was Robin for a brief period of time after Tim quit but she got fired for disobeying orders (sound familiar?) and trying to prove herself to Bruce she used one of his plans to unite the crime families of Gotham she got captured by Black Mask. Mask then beat her savagely and when the Bats brought her to Leslie, Leslie refused to treat her to teach Bruce a lesson. (in reality she did treat Stephanie and helped her fake her death.)_

 _I also referred to Dick killing the Joker, something he actually did when he thought the Joker had killed Tim Drake during a prison outbreak. Bruce got there in time to revive the Joker and it turned out that Tim was in fact still alive but Dick did kill the Joker. Something that never gets mentioned in any comic after that but it still happened._

 _So this was chapter 10, please let me know if you liked it or not. Followings or likings are also appreciated. Until next time._


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone, I'm so sorry that it took me this long to write this chapter but it took me a long time to get it right in a way that it was somewhat what I wanted it to be. I think I've rewritten it at least twice by now and it still isn't exactly what I want it to be but you've all waited long enough, so without further ado, please enjoy!

* * *

Dick seriously felt like punching a wall.

Barbara wasn't at the Clocktower and he really needed to let off some steam after seeing Jasmine being carried out of those catacombs by Bruce like a broken puppet.

The brave, brash, compassionate girl with the strong personality he'd been getting to know since their encounter on that rooftop wasn't supposed to look like that.  
She had to be vibrant and alive. And he knew that there was a dark side to her, how could she not have one after being murdered and coming back to life, but he'd rarely seen someone as alive as she was.

But he was afraid of what the effect of this confrontation with the Joker on her psyche would be. He'd noticed that she wasn't as okay as she tried to let him believe she was and that she'd run away because of him made it his fault that the Joker had gotten her, again.

If it had been him the Joker had snatched up, that would be alright.  
At least then he would have been able to keep any of his siblings from that fate and that it was Jasmine only made it worse. He had a feeling that Jasmine hadn't worked through her feelings about her murder yet.  
He'd seen it in her eyes. The anger and betrayal she felt was clear in them.  
Her eyes had always been full of feeling and he was glad that hadn't changed because it helped a lot in trying to gauge her mood.

And he knew he'd fucked up. The things he'd told her the last time they'd spoken haunted him. How could he consider himself a good big brother when he didn't even realize that he'd hurt his little sister that badly.

He'd never even noticed how much she'd looked up to him when she was younger.  
When he thought about it, it seemed rather obvious. She'd become Robin after him and had undoubtedly been compared to him countless times by Bruce and probably a lot of other people too.  
It couldn't have been easy for her.  
He'd never realized it but coming after him had to have been a real challenge. Especially since they couldn't have been more different.  
He, a kid from the circus who'd been taken in and raised by Bruce the moment things went sideways while Jasmine had seen her father being arrested, lost her mother as a little kid and had then lived on the street for a period of time before being found by Bruce.

They'd both been taken in by Bruce when they were around eight years old but for Jasmine peril had struck a lot earlier and she hadn't had a support system to fall back on.  
He had still had everyone at Hailey's, they would have taken him in a heartbeat had it been necessary but Jasmine hadn't had anyone.  
She'd grown up in an environment that was a lot harsher and that had been clear the moment he'd met her. Everything about her had been guarded, so much so that no one had even known her gender.  
It was almost surreal how much he hadn't known about her before she died.

And he really wanted to do better this time around but he'd already had to admit that it wouldn't be easy.  
While she seemed to trust him on the surface, the betrayal she had experienced when he ignored her when they first met was still there, making it hard for her to really trust him.  
And he understood that, respected it even. She had a right to her feelings, he had been in the wrong, after all and there was no way he could truly make up for that.  
But at the same time he felt like his feeling had been justified too. Bruce hadn't had the right to give Robin, his name, to some other kid. It had been his and while he shouldn't have taken it out on her, he felt like he had had every right to be angry.

But when he thought about that little girl being caught in the middle of all their bullshit he felt guilty and he knew Bruce did too.  
They'd both been unfair to her and for so long he hadn't even noticed.  
The worst part was probably that Jasmine had needed to say it herself for him to really notice just how much their fighting had affected her.

God! He felt so angry.

Mostly at himself, but also at Bruce and the Joker, yes, don't forget Joker. Ugh! He almost wished Bruce had not been there, back in Blackgate. It would have made everything so much easier for his little sister. She wouldn't have been hurt by him a second time.  
Dick felt himself get angry at Bruce. How could Bruce not have known that Joker had escaped! How could he have let Jasmine fall into his hands again!  
How could Dick have let it happen? Bruce hadn't known who Jasmine was, but Dick had. How could he not have prevented this?

Then his phone went off. When he looked, the ID showed that it was Cass who was calling.  
Cass, who was a veritable angel and exactly who he needed in that exact moment. Eventually he was going to figure out how she did it, always knowing when someone needed her.

"Hey Cass."

"Hi."

She answered in such a sweet tone that Dick couldn't help but smile.

"Is there a particular reason you are calling right now?"

"You and little sister."

Of course Cass knew about Jasmine. Dick wasn't sure how and even if he would ever find out but the fact was that she knew.

"Yeah… it's a mess right now. You might want to stay away from Gotham for a while."

"Too late."

And naturally she was already in Gotham, or at least on her way to it.

"Where are you?"

"Want to meet our little sister."

"Last I saw her, Leslie was tending to her injuries and those seemed pretty bad so it might take a while before you'll be able to talk with her."

"Is okay. See you home in the morning."

"Yeah, okay. See you then."

Cass ended the call and Dick sighed. Talking to Cass helped but it wasn't some magical cure that fixed everything.  
And he might have told Cass that she would be able to talk to Jasmine if she waited a while but if he was honest Dick wasn't so sure about it. Jasmine had looked bad when Bruce had carried her out of those catacombs, really bad and he was actually scared for her.

And talking to Cass, however relieving it had been, also served to make him realize that he had been neglecting his other siblings.  
He hadn't made time for his little brother and sister in quite some time, and yes, he'd spoken Tim the day before but that was in a public setting that required that them to look their best for Gotham's elite. A setting both of them hated with a vengeance but were required to endure anyway.  
He'd have to do better if he expected any of his siblings to trust and respect him.

* * *

Jasmine was lying in her bed, hooked up to an oxygenator and a heart monitor. And as she looked in through the window, Talia couldn't help but be reminded of the last time Jasmine had looked so small, back when she had been catatonic.  
She had only been there for a minute when she felt more than heard the presence behind her.

"What are you doing here, Talia?" Bruce growled.

"Just looking at my little girl, my Beloved. No mother would miss a chance to be there for her child when they are injured."

"Your child?"

The confusion was almost detectable in his usually emotionless voice.  
Talia smiled wistfully.

"Yes, my daughter."

"Does she know?"

"No, she does not."

"Why?"

"Because…" Talia took a deep breath. "Because I lost my right to act as her mother when I failed to protect her as a baby."

"Protect her? Against what?"

Talia turned to throw an impatiently angry look at Bruce.

"Who do you think? Who would dare to take the granddaughter of the Demon's Head?"

Realization hit Bruce's face.

"Ra's." He was silent for a moment. "He took your baby? Why?"

"Because he didn't want me to have a child with just anyone and on top of that she was a girl." She took another deep breath. "He send his minions to steal her out of her crib when she was two days old."

"But he let her live?"

"He wouldn't kill anyone of his blood without giving them a chance to prove that they deserve to live."

"And she did."

"As well as can be expected in a place as horrid as Gotham."

Bruce chocked on a breath.

"So, she really is Jason."

"Yes, she was disguised as a boy during her time under your tutelage."

"But you didn't know that at the time."

"I did not."

He grunted and she had to admit that she'd never heard him say that many words at once in a long time. Most conversations with him had been one-sided since he'd left her. Not that she had given him much choice, but still.  
She looked at Jasmine through the window again.  
"How bad is it?"

Behind her Bruce sighed.  
"Bad. The doctor is not sure she'll even wake up and even if she does she will probably never walk again because of spinal injury."

Talia nodded and moved to open the window when Bruce halted her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have something that might help. It only works on those who are part of the Al-Ghul bloodline but it should allow her body to recover at a much faster rate."

Bruce seemed unsure.

"And what does it do to those who do not share your and your father's blood?"

Talia swallowed.

"It kills them."

Bruce maneuvered himself between her and the window latch, preventing her from going in.

"As long as I don't know for sure that Jasmine is your daughter you won't give her that. And I want to know exactly what is in it."

Talia had known this would be inevitable but that didn't mean it didn't still irritate her when he acted so controlling.

"Very well."

She let him lead her inside the Manor and to the Cave underneath it. There, he asked Alfred to collect DNA from Jasmine before drawing blood from Talia herself and analyzing it.  
When Alfred returned Bruce told him to show Talia to a room to stay in until he was done.

Talia followed Alfred to a room that was probably as far away from Jasmine as it got but she wouldn't let that deter her. Her daughter wasn't the only one who'd had to prove she deserved to live.  
She went out the window of the room she'd been placed in, back in through another and from there she made her way to Jasmine's room.

She was pleased to find the door to the room unlocked, thus allowing her to enter unchallenged.

Inside she found Jasmine, still sleeping or sedated, she wasn't certain which of the two, and Timothy Drake in the chair next to her bed. The boy was fast asleep and if what she had heard about his inability to take care of himself was true, then he needed it.  
She chose to let him be and moved over to Jasmine's side. She picked up Jasmine's hand that did not have a cast around it and used it to ensure herself that she had a heartbeat and was thus alive.

Then she pulled a syringe out of an inside pocket of her jacket and injected it into Jasmine's IV.  
She knew that the fluid inside it would help Jasmine but not just for the reasons she had told Bruce.  
While it was true that it would kill anyone not of the Al-Ghul-bloodline, it was also useless for anyone who'd never used a Lazarus Pitt.  
Apparently leftover traces from the Pitt in the blood activated the reaction that helped the body heal rapidly.

Talia didn't know what the long-term effects from the chemical were, though.  
The only other person to ever use it was her father and he used the Pitt too often to see the long-term effects anything had on him.

She gripped Jasmine's hand a bit tighter.

"You'll pull through this, little princess, your little brother needs you to." She paused for a moment. "As do I."

The Arabic came natural and felt so much more intimate than the foreign English she'd been speaking all day.  
Her heart broke at the thought of Damian back home. When she'd left he'd begged her to take him with or to at least bring his big sister back. Talia knew how much he'd missed Jasmine and she would love for her children to be reunited but she doubted it would happen anytime soon.

She couldn't risk Bruce finding out about Damian and more importantly, her father would never let Damian go. His conviction to raise her son was as strong as it had been not to raise Jasmine.  
This was really not the time to bring the subject of Damian up with Bruce. Revealing Jasmine's heritage to him had probably already enraged her father and adding Damian would only make it worse.

She was afraid of the ways her father could use Jasmine, now that Bruce knew exactly who she was. It put Jasmine in even more danger than she had already been but, and Talia consoled herself with this, it had been necessary.  
She felt as though she'd had a choice here, to be her daughter's mother or not.  
That was all it came down to in the end.  
By coming to Gotham she'd taken responsibility as this child's mother, even if it was so much too late.

Talia thought about everything she had done to help Jasmine during the past few years and came to the conclusion that there wasn't a single thing she regretted.  
Yes, it was unfortunate that the Lazarus Pitt had been necessary but she'd run out of time and it had been the only way to keep Jasmine out of her father's grasp.

And in the end, it was all worth it. Jasmine was alive and free from the League and that was what mattered most of all.

And the next time she came across that clown, she would kill him for what he had done to her daughter, twice. But for now, being with Jasmine was more important.

She'd been there for quite some time when Alfred entered the room. He barely looked up at seeing her in the room and just went to wake Timothy.

"Master Tim, will you be joining Master Bruce for dinner downstairs or would you prefer for something to be brought up?"

The boy blinked sleepily until his eyes focused on her.

"I think I'll stay here, Alfred, if that's alright?"

"Of course, Master Tim." Then he turned to her. "And what about you, Miss Talia?"

"I'm staying here as well."

She smiled pleasantly but his only reply was a nod.  
The last thing he did before leaving the room was placing a hand on Jasmine's brow for a moment.

When he was gone Talia sighed and turned her attention to Timothy. She wasn't surprised that he was looking at her, the look he was giving her was strange, though.

"Hello Timothy."

In response Timothy muttered something incomprehensible.

"I'm sorry?"

This time he spoke up.

"I said that it's Tim, not Timothy."

"Very well, Tim."

He was still giving her that look that she suspected meant that he was trying to explain her presence in every feasible way. She decided to help him out.

"Is something the matter?"

He jumped a little, not having expected the question.

"Yeah, um…" He flexed his wrists before continuing. "I was kinda wondering why you're here?"

She supposed that it didn't matter if she told him or not. If she didn't he'd learn about it from her Beloved soon enough.

"I'm here for my daughter."

He looked confused for a split second before understanding entered his face.

"Jasmine is your daughter?!"

And then the confusion was back.

"How can she be your daughter? She's from Gotham."

"That is a long and complicated story for another day."

Tim didn't seem to like that answer but he also seemed to understand that prying wouldn't get him the answers he desired so he changed the subject.  
He gestured towards Jasmine.

"How is she now?"

Talia smoothed some hair on her brow.

"I believe she will be just fine."

Tim nodded.

"Good."

Then Alfred entered the room with dinner for the both of them.  
They thanked him and started eating. Well, she started eating, Tim literally dug in.

And soon she realized why, the food was simply delicious and also served to make her realize just how hungry she was.  
That was pretty much a given, though, considering she'd only eaten breakfast and that was before she even arrived in Gotham.

She admitted to herself that Alfred's cooking was even better than she'd imagined and that was after Jasmine had told her that you hadn't lived until you tasted his food. She had told Talia that he had been the one to teach Jasmine how to cook.

Talia looked at her daughter.  
The small wounds that had earlier adorned most of her face and arms were now fading and her skin did now have an almost healthy tone instead of being ghostly pale.  
She no longer looked as though she was on her deathbed but simply like she was asleep, minus the casts and the IV, of course.  
Her hair laid in a halo around her head and in the light of the room it was a dark red, almost purple mess of curls that Talia knew from experience was almost untamable. She didn't know where Jasmine got her hair from considering Talia's own hair was ink black and mostly straight as was Jasmine's father's.

But Jasmine also still sported the lock of white hair that served as evidence of her experience with the Lazarus Pitt.  
Talia had hoped it would fade in the time but the odds of that happening after more than two years were remote at best.

She sighed.

Why had Jasmine had such a hard life forced on her?  
She was only sixteen. She should be going to school, have friends and do dumb stuff she would regret doing when she was older.  
Not this shadow of a life where every day was a gamble and seeing the end of the day an uncertainty.

That was when Bruce came in.  
He looked shocked and she was surprised by the speed of his DNA sequencing machine.

He looked at her and there seemed to be a lot he wanted to say but she beat him to the punch.

"I made a mistake."

Bruce frowned and she continued.

"I thought that I could control her, but I was wrong."

Bruce produced a sound that with a lot of imagination could be interpreted as a snort.

"No one makes her do anything she doesn't want to do. I never could either."

Then he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How could you, Talia? Sixteen years and you never thought to tell me?"

Talia sighed but made sure to look him in the eye when she answered.

"Why tell you if the only result would be to cause you pain because she had been taken?"

Bruce's look became downright menacing.

"I would have preferred to know I had a daughter no matter where she was. And if I had known I would have scourged the earth to find her."

Talia nodded.

"Yes, and you would never have found her. My father hid her and he did it well. She wouldn't have been found until he wanted her to be. The only reason you came upon her was chance and I'm not even sure that meeting wasn't manipulated by my father."

"But now she had to grow up in a situation no child deserves, without any hope for improvement because no one even tried to look for her."

"Do you think I liked it any better than you do? She is my daughter too, but I know my father, better than you ever will and he would never have permitted it. He would have killed her before letting you find her."

"I have fought and defeated your father many times, Talia, he wouldn't have been able to stop me."

"Back then you hadn't."

"That is no excuse."

"It will have to do all the same."

Then Jasmine groaned and Bruce and Talia both jumped to get to her, but after a moment she settled down again.  
Bruce turned to her with a furrowed brow and anger in his eyes.

"You gave it to her."

It wasn't a question so she treated it as the accusation it was.

"I did."

"Are there side-effects?"

"None that I know of."

Bruce nodded, the picture of controlled anger.

"Alright, now you leave and don't you dare come back."

Deciding that it would probably be best to give him time to process everything she did as he asked and left the room, going in the direction of the gardens.  
Once there she called Damian.

"Hello mother." Damian answered the phone in Arabic.

"Hello Damian. How are you?"

"My training goes well. Grandfather says that soon I'll be big enough to wield a full-sized katana and then he'll train me personally."

Talia resisted the urge to cringe. The personal training was not something she was looking forward to. It would give her father even more opportunities to manipulate her son in ways Talia wasn't going to like. She felt as if she had to fear for Damian's safety once those lessons started. But she wasn't going to worry Damian needlessly.

"Very good, Damian. I am proud of you."

"Thank you, mother."

"I'll be staying with your sister a bit longer to make sure that she makes a full recovery, afterwards I'm coming home."

"May I come to see Jasmine?"

Talia could hear how badly Damian wanted to come and she wanted to say yes just as much, but the timing wasn't right. If Damian came now, her father would immediately be alerted of Jasmine's whereabouts, while now he could only guess.

"Not right now, Damian. Later I will arrange for the two of you to see each other. I'm sure she'll want to see you as well."

"Very well, mother."

She could hear Damian's disappointment in his voice, though.

"Now, I'll leave you to your studies. We'll see each other soon, my son."

"Yes, mother."

Talia ended the call and sat down on the first bench she came across.  
What was she supposed to do? It seemed that both her children needed her and she was incapable of being there for the two of them at the same time.  
She felt like a terrible mother.

Damian was only eight and she'd left him alone with her father, surrounded by an army of assassins.  
Not exactly a healthy place for a child to grow up in.

Maybe she should tell her beloved about their son when he requested to continue their talk about Jasmine, even though it was probably a terrible idea.

She understood that he didn't appreciate being kept in the dark about the fact that he even had a child for most of her early life.  
And she could only imagine his reaction when he got to know that there were not one but two children.

It was not a conversation she looked forward to but a necessary one all the same.

She dreaded it even more because she suspected that Bruce would do everything in his power to get her children away from her.  
He would probably tell her that it was to get the children away from the harmful influence that was the League or if he was really angry he'd even right out tell her to get them away from her.

And she didn't like it but even so, he probably wasn't completely wrong.  
The League of Assassins wasn't a place to raise children. And her father was not exactly the world's greatest grandfather.

Abducting a newborn was enough proof of that on its own and, unfortunately, it was hardly the only thing he had done.

But no matter how right her beloved might be she was not going to give up her children without putting up a fight first.  
They had been hers long before they were his, after all.

* * *

So this was chapter 11, hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think by reviewing, liking and/or following. Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12

_This was a hard chapter to write, I had everything that came before it and that came after it but this I hadn't written yet and it turned out that that the spaces in between were not as easy to fill as I thought they would be. So this is a rather short chapter but I promise that the next ones will be longer. Anyway, this is chapter 12, enjoy!_

* * *

Damian huffed.

Mother wanted him to continue his lessons while she was with his sister. It wasn't fair!  
He hadn't seen Jasmine in almost a year, ever since she started travelling the world she'd come to the Compound less and less, busy training for her plans.

And now Mother was spending time with her and he wasn't allowed.  
He wanted to be there so badly, to see his sister again, to show her what he had learned.

Then someone knocked on his door and when he gave them permission to enter, a servant opened to door to inform him that his next lesson started in ten minutes.  
Damian dismissed the man before dressing accordingly for a lesson in swordplay. He thought it was a stupid lesson, but his mother and grandfather insisted that he continue under his current teacher. Apparently he was one of the best in the world and, therefore, hard to replace.

Damian huffed.  
Why did he have to obey Mother's and Grandfather's orders?  
He was eight! Not some little child!

He would decide what he wanted to do, no one else. He was old enough and he had been trained by the League of Assassins since birth. If he wanted to do something, no one would be able to stop him.

He changed out of his training clothes and chose instead clothing more suited for travel through the desert.  
He collected everything he expected he would need to get to the United States.  
If they didn't take him where he wanted to go, he would get there on his own, he was the Son of the Bat and the grandson of the head of the demon, after all.

When he had everything, he left for the garages, where he located a jeep he knew how to drive.  
After making sure he had enough water and supplies, Damian drove away from the Compound. He was going to Gotham.

* * *

Bruce was sitting at his computer, analyzing and reanalyzing the blood samples of Jasmine, Talia and himself. He told himself that it made no sense, but he knew that, in a way, it did. His marriage with Talia had been during the right period, the child from her presumed miscarriage, that obviously hadn't been a miscarriage if this was true, would have been Jasmine's age. The clues were all there, he just didn't want to admit to himself that he hadn't been able to uncover it himself, back when he had raised Jasmine as his son. If he had, she might not have died, everything could have been so much better.  
If he had only noticed that her hair was just like his mother's had been, that her eyes had the same shape as Talia's, that her skin was too dark to be Caucasian, hell, even noticing that she was a girl might have been enough to keep her for striking out on her own, looking for her birth mother.

He felt ashamed.

He'd done so much wrong when it came to Jasmine.  
Starting with treating her like Dick, even though they couldn't have been more different. It seemed as if all his kids suffered from his inability to be the father they deserved. He didn't even know where Dick was at the moment, and Tim hadn't left Jasmine's room in two days.  
And what did it say about the attention he paid to his kids when he wasn't even able to tell that the child he had taken in was a girl instead of a boy. How could he even claim being the world's greatest detective?  
And then, worst of all, had he failed to rescue her from the Joker, letting him kill her when she was only twelve years old.

And now she was alive and he had no idea how.  
Part of him wanted to ask her, but another part was afraid that it would cause her to shut down, and yet another part was afraid of what the answer might be.

There was nothing he wanted to do more than to take her into his arms, never to let her go again. It was an impulse he had with all the children that ended up in his care, but one that he had never been able to act upon.  
He wanted to protect them from the world and everything evil and sinister in it, but he knew beforehand that they would never let him. And with none of them that was more true than with her, especially after she would learn how badly he had failed her. She deserved so much better than to have Talia and him as parents.

He had never wanted children. No child deserved to live the life he led but early on it had been made clear to him that that choice was not his to make.  
Dick had been the first, followed first by Jasmine and then Tim and Cass. All four of them were his children and he had to take his responsibility in regard to them.  
And when it came to Jasmine it was even more complicated, not only was he her biological father, there was also Talia to consider.  
She seemed to mean well but he couldn't trust her, especially when it came to an impressionable child, his child.  
There was only one option, he'd have to find a way to get Jasmine away from Talia's influence.

But first there was something he needed to do. Someone who needed to know that he couldn't touch his children without suffering the consequences.

* * *

When Dick decided that he was done for the night, he went to the Manor instead of staying in any of his places in Gotham or going back to Blüdhaven. He knew that Jasmine hadn't woken up yet, but he just couldn't stay away. All of his younger siblings were currently at the Manor and he was prepared to stay at the same place as Bruce if it meant seeing them.  
While his relationship with his adoptive father had changed a lot for the better over the last few years, there was still awkwardness left and the whole situation with Blockbuster and Tarantula didn't exactly help. Bruce had never even noticed that something had been wrong and that stung.  
He could be so overbearing at times but when he was actually needed, he was nowhere to be seen. It had left Dick on his own to work through the aftermath.

And then there was the fact that Dick had known about Jasmine before Bruce. They hadn't talked about it yet but Dick knew that it would happen somewhere in the near future and that there was no way it was going to end well.

Bruce would probably blame him for her getting hurt. Like Bruce could have kept her from doing what she wanted to do if he had known.  
She was as stubborn as, if not more so than, Bruce. Him trying to tell her what to do would, undoubtedly, have resulted in a fight that would have ended with her leaving and ending up in the same situation. It was just bad luck that Jasmine had been the one to have been taken by the Joker.

It wasn't his fault or anyone's fault but the Joker's. That sick psycho would do anything to hurt them, and he had no qualms about harming children, as he'd shown on multiple occasions.  
Dick had a feeling that everyone would rest easier when they no longer had to worry about that clown but for now they had to take their fill with him being locked up.  
And Bruce would not let this go unpunished, of that Dick was certain.  
The Joker would pay.

Once he arrived in the Cave he was met with the sight of Bruce suiting up to go, watched by an exasperated Alfred. But the old butler looked up when Dick came up to them and asked him if he had any injuries. When he told him that he didn't Alfred told him to take a shower and change before getting some much needed rest.

Dick did as he was asked and when he got back to the main area of the Cave, the Batmobile and Bruce were gone and Alfred was waiting for him.

"Hello Master Dick, is there a particular reason you chose to come here for the night?"

Dick nodded.

"Yes, I was hoping to see Jasmine, has she woken up yet?"

"I'm afraid not. But her injuries are healing well."

"Is it okay if I go to see her before going to bed?"

"Of course, as long as you are quiet as to not wake Master Tim. He has fallen asleep in Mistress Jasmine room, so I urge you to be careful."

"Yes, of course."

Dick then went to hug Alfred.

"You're the savior of us all, Alfie."

Alfred chuckled.

"Good night, Master Dick."

"Good night, Alf."

Dick left the Cave through Bruce's study and went upstairs to the hall that housed all of their rooms. First he went to Jasmine's room, he entered quietly and found Jasmine in her bed, hooked up to several beeping machines to monitor her and Tim asleep in the chair next to the bed. He laid in a way that promised that he would wake up with a mean crick in his neck, but Dick didn't dare to move him, Tim slept little enough as it was.

They looked well, considering the circumstances. Especially Jasmine, she looked really well, all her visible wounds seemed healed and het skin wasn't nearly as pale as it had been or even should be. She looked as though she was simply sleeping, not like she'd been fighting for her life just a day earlier. It was unreal, so Dick suspected that something else had to be at play here. But for now he decided not to focus on it. His siblings were here and relatively safe. That was what mattered.  
Jasmine hadn't woken up yet, but he was certain that soon she would and she would probably still be mad at him, she had every right to, after all, so he wouldn't have the chance to spend a lot of time with her then. He really hoped she would forgive him but wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. She knew how to hold a grudge, that he knew about her. He was ashamed to admit just how little he knew when it came to her, but that he knew.

* * *

Bruce rode straight for Arkham Asylum. When he had found Jasmine, he had paid little mind to her tormentor besides making sure he would end up in the clutches of the GCPD. That meant that by now he was back in the Asylum and Jasmine was out of the woods, so he was going to pay the clown a little visit that he was going to remember for a long time to come.  
He'd like to say that he was going to teach the Joker not to touch his children once and for all but he knew that it never worked out that way.  
The Joker liked tormenting them way too much and didn't give a damn that they were just children.  
At least most of his other rogues had learned that they were in for a hell of a lot of pain if they ever went after his children. There were even some who liked his children, or at least some of them, for some reason. They'd give them advice or would even help them sometimes.  
If they were on their own, that was.

When he was with one of the children, the fondness his villains held for his children would not be noticeable. Maybe they thought he didn't know or something like that but he did and while it didn't excuse their crimes, it helped him to remember that they were just people and as such were not all bad, not like the Joker.

He arrived at Arkham and immediately went for the Joker's cell, avoiding the guards while doing so.  
It took him no time at all to get in, he'd have to see to it that Arkham got a gift from Bruce Wayne to update their security, but for now he was thankful for the ease with which he got into the cell.  
Once inside he found the Joker lounging on his bed. He looked up the moment Batman entered and his permanent grin grew even wider.

"Why, hello Batsy. Come to keep me company, have you?"

Batman growled.

"Oh, I get it, you didn't like my gift. Well then I'll have to try harder next time. Maybe you'll like it better then. You have such lovely birds."

Batman hauled him from the bad and pinned him to the pall by his neck with his left hand while he punched him with his right.

"You" punch "will" punch "not" punch "touch" punch "them."

Each word was accompanied by a punch and by the end of his message the clown's nose was broken and bleeding and his left eye would be closed before an hour had passed.  
But the clown had started laughing and the sound was grating on Bruce's ears.

"But Batsy, it's just so tempting when I see them flying across the sky, the urge to put them down is too much to resist. And they look so pretty when I'm done with them."

Batman punched him square in the mouth and was not at all sorry when he felt several teeth crack under his fist.  
But the clown just kept laughing and talking.

"Remember the angry one? He was so much fun to play with, so full of spiteful spirit. I loved it, but of course he was still a distraction so I had to put him down, such a pity. He had so much potential."

And somehow the Joker talking about his daughter made him even madder than it would have before he knew she was alive. Maybe because he'd now nearly killed her twice, but anyway he couldn't stand it. He threw the clown across the cell, where he hit the wall hard enough to dent it. The Joker crumbled to the floor and for a moment Bruce thought he might have knocked him unconscious but then the laughing started again and he crossed the room where he loomed over the Joker.  
With his foot he started applying pressure to Joker's left arm until he fractured it. Then he moved to the right one and by now the Joker had realized what was happening.

"Ooh, I get it. This revenge for the lesson I taught that strange girl-bird." He switched to a fake whispering voice. "Did you know that she had guns? It was so much fun to hurt her with her own weapons, I'll have to remember that for another time."

"No, you won't, or I'll make you regret ever being born by the time I'm done with you."

The Joker was still laughing.

"It's so funny when you go all protective daddybats on me. Real cute."

Batman growled. No one threatened his children and got away with it.  
He picked the Joker up by his shirt and held him up against the wall, before kneeing him in the stomach and keeping his knee there, pushing ever harder, until the Joker was unable to keep up the laughter.

"I'll make sure your laughter is never heard again, after all, there are a lot of ways to stop you that don't require killing you.

For what he could swear was the first time ever, he saw a glint of fear in those poisonous green eyes that haunted many a man.  
Then he let go and left the cell and subsequently the Asylum the way he had come, unseen and unheard.

* * *

Damian huffed as he left Gotham International Airport. He was grandson of the Demon's Head, perfectly capable of taking care of himself. The cuts from his katana that several men were now sporting should be enough to prove that. So why were so many people questioning his competence by repeatedly asking him if he was lost, if they had to call someone to come and get him? He was not a baby.

Finally away from the airport, he looked around.  
He wasn't in the city but if he wanted to find Jasmine he would have to find a way to get there.  
He knew where she operated as Red Hood after overhearing a conversation between her and his mother, so now he just had to get to the 'East End'.

Determined to get to his destination he commanded the first person he came across to take him there, and luckily for him the man complied, so 45 minutes later, Damian found himself in Crime Alley.  
He decided to walk around to familiarize himself with the neighborhood until he would be able to find a clue as to where his sister was.

* * *

 _Please let me know what you think._


	13. Chapter 13

_And here is chapter 13, it's quite a bit longer than the last one, as I said it would be. hope you like it. Enjoy!_

* * *

A haunting laugh.

A dark, enclosed space, small enough that moving was nearly impossible.

She couldn't figure out what was going on but felt the fear spread through her body regardless of that.

Then two green lights appeared.

For a moment Jasmine on those lights, hoping that they were somehow an escape, a way to get away from the claustrophobic feeling that she felt creeping up on her and from that godawful laugh. But then they turned into gleefully crinkling eyes, accompanied by the most frightening smile she'd ever seen. One she knew she would never escape from, no matter how long her second life lasted.  
That was… if she was even alive. For all she knew this was her own personal hell. Would certainly be appropriate.

She tried to move away from the face the that loomed ever closer before she remembered that she couldn't because of the enclosed space she was in.

That creepy face was all she saw, that haunting laugh all she heard and that enclosed, rectangular space all she felt.

The walls seemed like they were closing in on her and she started trashing, for as much as she could.

She was scared, really, really scared and there was nothing she could do. Her throat hurt from screaming though she couldn't even hear her own voice over the laugh that completely surrounded her, that invaded all her senses. He was everywhere.

Then the scene changed.  
Gone was the dark, enclosed space, gone was the all-encompassing sound of laughter.

Now there was the sound of metal hitting flesh. Hard.

She felt it, the crowbar hitting her, again and again.  
She heard herself scream now and when she looked up, he was there. Batman, gleefully hitting her over and over again with a wide grin on his face.

But… that wasn't right, now was it?

Batman didn't grin, only Bruce did.

And why was he hitting her? He never hit her.

And when she looked at herself, that was wrong too. What she saw wasn't a child on the brink of puberty but a young woman.

She blinked, and gone was the tattered Robin costume, in its place an armored combo of leather and denim. Her head safely encased in her signature red helmet.

She blinked again and gone was Batman, replaced by the madman that had once send her to an early grave.

She didn't have to let it happen again. She wasn't a pre-adolescent anymore. She was stronger now, she could stand up for herself. She could stop the Joker from hurting her ever again.

The next time the crowbar came swinging down, she caught it.

She got up and reversed their roles. Now it was her who got to hurt the Joker and she swore to herself this was the last time he would ever get to hit her.

Then she heard something, an echo of some sort. She let the crowbar down to listen and her surroundings, together with the Joker disappeared.

The sound started getting clearer and she recognized her name. Someone was calling her name.

She focused on the voice and realized that it was Bruce who was calling her name.

Bruce, not Batman.

And she wasn't holding a crowbar, but something warm, and relatively soft. Like skin.

Slowly the crowbar transformed into an arm and as she looked up, there was Bruce, looking very concerned. Though that lessened when she looked straight into his eyes and stopped crushing his arm.

He moved his hand to brush some hair out of her face.

"Can you hear me, Jasmine?"

She tried to nod.

"Yes."

It came out as not much more than a release of air but he heard it anyway. She saw it in the way he relaxed minutely as he handed her a glass of water.

"You were having a nightmare."

That made sense, she supposed, as she drank. Though it didn't explain why he was the one to wake her up.

And where was she, for that matter?

Looking around, it took her a moment to take in her surroundings and recognize them as her old room.  
Why was she at the Manor?

She was quite sure that she hadn't come there by choice. She couldn't even imagine a situation in which she would consent to coming there.

But then she noticed the cast around her wrist and that reminded her of something.  
A splitting pain she had felt there, but when?

Then she remembered that her wrist had not been the only part of her body that had hurt.

There had been pain all over but now… it was gone?

And not as in pushed away by the drowsiness of painkillers but simply gone.

That was weird.

She tried to remember how she even got injured in the first place. The first thing that her mind came up with was the Joker's face and at first she wanted to dismiss it as a flashback to that time.  
But then it all started coming back to her and she felt herself shudder.

She was trembling and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Just when she thought it couldn't get more embarrassing, considering Bruce was there with her, he took her into his arms and hugged her close.  
A part of her wanted to push him away but mostly she just wanted to feel safe and for some reason, even after everything that had happened, him holding her still gave her that feeling.

She wanted it to be true, that he was in fact able to keep her safe, but she knew that was simply impossible.

She pulled away after what felt like a few minutes but had probably been a lot longer. She'd stopped shaking and felt almost calm now.

When she hazarded a look at Bruce, he was looking at her. No, looking wasn't the right word.  
It was more like he was cataloguing her.  
As if he was looking for something, though she had no idea what.

She nudged him.

"Cut it out, will you?"

Immediately he looked her in the eye.

"What?"

She scrounged up her nose.

"The staring. It's creeping me out."

He looked apologetic before she'd even finished speaking.

"I'm sorry, Jay."

She tried to hide her reaction to the nickname but if his face was any indication, she'd failed miserably.

"What's wrong?"

"How did you figure it out?"

He smiled, but it wasn't the kind of smile she recognized.

"You called me 'dad'."

She didn't remember that.

"When?"

"Right before you lost consciousness, but it's completely normal if you don't remember. You had a severe concussion."

Had?

"And I don't anymore? Just how long was I out for?"

"Three days. You're lucky we found you when we did, any later and I doubt you would have survived."

"Like that would be anything new."

She grumbled it under her breath but it seemed like still heard her, as he flinched slightly. Almost unnoticeable but she still saw it.

"Even more important, then, to make sure it never happens again."

He sighed and gripped her hand in his.

"Why didn't you come home, Jasmine? Why do this?"

She looked away. The unvoiced pain in his eyes hurt to look at.

She whispered her answer.

"Because-because you wouldn't want me. You already had someone else. Someone so much better than I could ever be." By that point she had started sobbing and he wound his arms around her again. She felt that he wanted to say something but, while she hadn't wanted to tell him any of it, now that she had started she couldn't stop. "And I'm a girl and you want boys and-and"

"Breath, Jasmine."

Oh, right. She needed to do that too.

When she got her breathing back under control, she looked up at Bruce and saw him looking at her with the most expressive worried look she'd ever seen on his face.

He started speaking, or tried to, when he noticed that he had her attention again.

"Why-how-why would you-" He sighed, "Jasmine, I raised you from when you were nine years old, or eight, according to that birth certificate, but that's for another time. For now you need to know that it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl. You're my child and you're always welcome here. And Tim didn't replace you. Yes, he became Robin. Just like you became Robin after Dick, but he could never replace you, like you couldn't replace Dick. The both of you will always have a place here."

* * *

Bruce wasn't sure what to do.

He wasn't used to dealing with upset teenage girls, never mind one who was his daughter.

He was glad that she had calmed down a little but he knew that it wouldn't be the end of it.

She was looking at him in a way that was reminiscent of her early days at the Manor, back when she'd questioned every move he made around her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"And Cassandra could use some more girl power against those boys."

Jasmine looked at him questioningly.

"Cassandra? A girl?"

"Yes, she's you older sister now."

She snorted.

"You never stop collecting children, do you?"

"To be honest, she came to me. She's the current Batgirl."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"And Barbie is okay with that arrangement?"

Bruce nodded.

"Yes, she offered being Batgirl to Cass herself. She said that Cass had earned it after everything she'd done during No Man's Land."

Jasmine's brow furrowed?

"No Man's Land? Was that after that earthquake?"

"Yes, Cass came to Gotham and I ended up with a second daughter."

"A second? Bruce, I was never your daughter, if anything, I was your son. I can't be your daughter if you don't know that I'm a girl."

"No, Jasmine, you are my daughter. Now and forever, it doesn't matter where you are, I have chosen you as my child so, for me, that is what you'll always be."

"That simple? I'm sure that legally I'm nothing to you, so whatever you decide doesn't even matter."

Bruce couldn't stop the small smile that graced his lips as he muttered "You'd be surprised," under his breath. She didn't miss it, though.

"What do you mean by that? The boy you adopted is dead and legally I never even existed, even my birth certificate lists me as male."

"And have you ever wondered why that is?"

"Yes, of course I have!"

She said it with such youthful indignation that Bruce had to bite back a chuckle he knew she wouldn't appreciate.

"And did you find out why?"

She looked down.

"No."

He nodded.

"You wouldn't have, as far as I know Catherine Todd never even fully knew why."

She looked at him.

"But you do?"

"Yes, Talia told me when she was here."

"Talia? She's here?"

"Was. She left."

Jasmine seemed disappointed by that answer.

"Oh."

"She did have some interesting things to say, though."

Jasmine looked suspicious.

"Like what?"

He sighed.

"This is going to sound strange and hard to believe."

Jasmine looked unimpressed.

"You mean like me dying in an explosion only to come back to life six months later to find that you replaced me? I think I can handle it."

Bruce winced at her mentioning her death so randomly.

"Jasmine, you're my daughter. By blood."

Jasmine gaped at him for a moment and then she started laughing.

"No way! I'm sorry, old man, but you've got to be mistaken. There's no way that I'm some rich guy's kid, even if it is you. Just not possible."

He had expected a reaction similar to that.

"Have I ever told you that Talia and I used to be together, that we even got married?"

By that point Jasmine had stopped laughing and shook her head.

"No."

"But you read the files anyway, didn't you?" She nodded and he shook his head exasperatedly. "You always were too curious for your own good."

She shrugged and he continued.

"Seventeen years ago, when I was just about done with my training under Ra's, Talia and I fell in love and we married in secret. Not long after that she got pregnant and I was about to give up on my plans for Gotham when she got a miscarriage and left me. For a long time I thought that that was the end of it, until she came to me a few days ago. You were badly hurt and doctor Thompkins wasn't sure you were going to make it. But then Talia showed up with some magical cure."

Jasmine arched an eyebrow. She clearly remembered Bruce's adversity to magic and anything magical. He continued.

"I didn't trust it." She nodded as if that explained everything, and maybe it did. "But she gave it to you anyway and told me afterwards that it only worked on members of the Al Ghul family and that led to her telling me that you were her daughter. And because of the suspicious timeframe I did some tests and it turned out that I was right to be suspicious."

Jasmine didn't look convinced.

"So she just gave me that 'wonder cure'?"

The quotation marks that came with 'wonder cure' were almost audible.

"Yes, she snuck into your room and administered it through your I.V., that's also the reason you're not on any painkillers or anything else because we didn't know how the it would react with those things."

"And you just let her do it?"

"I was downstairs and Tim, even though he was here, was asleep."

"Tim was here?"

Bruce allowed himself to smile. He gestured at the chair behind him.

"He still is, once more asleep."

Jasmine snorted.

"Sure you don't want to invest in a better guard dog?"

"Just be glad it isn't Dick."

"Yeah, I guess." She paused. "But what happens now? If I am really your daughter?"

"You are. And that depends on the options we have. Do you have an official ID?"

She frowned.

"Yeah, Talia provided me with one."

"Under your own name?"

"As Jasmine Head, her niece."

"That's not ideal but does mean that you do officially exist. That my attorneys will have a starting point to file for custody."

"Custody? It's that easy? That's it? The only difference between me being a street rat and a Wayne is that by some coincidence I have your blood flowing through my veins? That is so messed up."

Bruce nodded sagely.

"I know."

She looked frustrated.

"No, you don't. You didn't grow up with a deadbeat father who was gone more often than he was home, and when he was home he only made things worse. With a mother who, though she meant well, was more often than not high and died too early, leaving you to fend for yourself as a seven year-old. Getting adopted by a man who constantly makes you compete against a memory that wasn't even real in the first place, to then, when you think you're done with all of it, learn that, in spite of everything, you might have a mother who is good. Only for her to betray you and get you killed in the process. No, you don't understand or 'know', don't ever think that you do."

By the end she had tears in her eyes and Bruce had to admit that she was right, he didn't know.

Bruce had never thought about it like that. How hard her life had been so far. How much injustice she had suffered through in her young life.

Then Jasmine took a deep breath and continued.

"And now you tell me that, even though I grew up in Crime Alley, you and Talia are my parents? I know better than to doubt the facts you give me but that doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do. You've never been my father and this doesn't automatically gives you a free pass for everything that happened before this. You can't just assume that I'd want to live with you. I've lived on my own for a long time now and I'm fine and even if I wasn't I wouldn't necessarily need to live with you. If Talia is my mother, then I can just as easily choose to live with her. Yes, she uses me to her own ends but at least she is honest about it, unlike a certain someone else I know."

Bruce was starting to feel like the worst human being ever. Jasmine had absolutely no experience with positive parental figures and here he was, trying to be the newest one in a long row of disappointing adults that had been some sort of parent to her in the past, himself already included.

She pushed him away.

"You probably have some wonderful reasons, that in your mind make all the sense world, but you know what? I don't want to hear it! Just get out! I'm not interested in whatever you have to say about why I should be a Wayne instead of a Todd or an Al Ghul or a Head. I don't need you to validate my existence. The child that needed that, the one that you remember, never left that warehouse in Ethiopia."

She sounded icy calm but he could see the anger simmering in her eyes.  
He also noted that her eyes seemed bluer than he remembered them being a few days before. Strange, but probably just his mind playing tricks on him.

Believing that there was nothing he could do to change her mind, he did as she asked and left her room.  
He would try again later.

* * *

Jasmine sighed after Bruce left the room.

Sometimes he was so infuriating!

But she was also confused. It seemed like she had her anger under control. She was angry with Bruce because come on, who sprung that kind of revelations on someone who had just woken up and then there was the part where he thought that he could decide how she was supposed to live her life.  
But despite that, the anger was manageable, not some out of control beast like it had been ever since the Pit. It was strange to even think about it but maybe its influence over her was waning.  
She'd have to ask Talia. But that was a whole other can of worms that she was in no hurry to open.

She wasn't tired and she desperately wanted to get out of there but while the casts wouldn't really be a problem, she was hooked up to too many machines to make a clean exit without waking Tim.

Luckily that was when Alfred chose to show up.

"I heard that Master Bruce has been ordered out of this room?"

Jasmine let herself fall back on her pillow with a thud.

"Ugh, he's just so unbelievable!"

Alfred chuckled.

"Yes, it is one of his less endearing character traits."

He put the breakfast tray he'd been carrying down.

"Now, could an old man get a hug after almost being scared to dead."

Jasmine chuckled.

"No way, you'll outlive all of us."

"Heavens forbid." Was the answer she got as he came to her side and pulled her into a tight hug.  
She hugged him even closer.

"Hey Alfie, sorry I scared you."

"It's okay, Mistress Jasmine. I don't believe it was your intention to do so."

She snorted.

"You could say that again."

She released her hold on him when he pulled back. Alfred retrieved the breakfast tray he'd carried in with him from the nightstand and presented her with a light breakfast, even though she was quite sure it was somewhere in the afternoon.  
She accepted it anyway and ate the toast and drank the juice he'd brought her.

When she was done he took the tray away and started disconnecting her from the machines surrounding her.

"Miss Talia said that your fractures should be healed just as well as your other injuries but for the sake of an old man, do me a favor by giving me the chance to check the credibility of those claims."

Jasmine nodded. As if she could ever refuse Alfred anything.

But when he was done he left, only to return with a wheelchair and she groaned.

"Really?"

"I'm afraid so, Mistress Jasmine. You broke your right tibia, as well as your left wrist, so both walking and crutches are out of the question. Now, will you be able to get out of bed on your own or do you require assistance ?"

"I can do it on my own, Alfred."

She hated how childish it sounded but the last thing she wanted was to have to ask for help.

"Very well. I'll be just outside if you were to require any help."

"Thanks, Alfie."

He nodded and left the room.

When he was gone she pushed herself up and maneuvered into the wheelchair standing next to her bed.  
Chuckling one last time at Tim, who'd managed to stay asleep through it all, she wheeled herself out of the room.

In the hallway she found Alfred and he led her to the elevator that took them to the Cave.

And then, finally, half an hour later she was cast-free and had been given a clean bill of health by Alfred.

She was ready to leave the Cave and put as much distance between herself and Bruce as possible when Alfred came up to her as she left the shower after washing the grime and sweat of several days off.

"Will you be staying with us a little while longer, Mistress Jasmine?"

She snorted.

"No Alf. The farther I'm away from Bruce, the better. At least he stops speaking nothing but nonsense."

Alfred nodded.

"Of course, but it would have been nice. To have everyone home again."

She felt the guilt surging through her body but knew that giving in would only prolong her suffering.

"I'm sorry, Alfie, but this hasn't been my home in quite some time."

"An old man can dream, can't he?"

"You're not that old. But now, if it's all right with you, I'd like to get changed."

She as she was wearing a seriously oversized shirt combined with a pair of sweatpants that was just a little bit too small to be comfortable, she didn't think it was such an unreasonable request.

"Of course. I hope you'll grant me the chance to say goodbye before you leave, though."

"You can count on it, I'll be sure to look for you before I go."

Then she left the Cave to go and hunt down some clothes that would actually fit her.

* * *

Jasmine stood before the bookcase in her old room, contemplating whether or not she would be able to get away with taking some of the books.  
On the one hand they were her books and it just seemed pointless and a huge waste to buy them again but then there was Bruce and the question as to what his reaction to her taking the books and thus defiling the shrine that her old room had become. Just being there felt creepy. Nothing had been moved since the last time she'd been there, but it had been cleaned all the same, which meant that at least Alfred had been in her room regularly.  
She had just decided that fuck it, they were her books anyway when a soft voice spoke up behind her and she jumped.

"Hey."

She whirled around, only to find a small Asian girl, about her age looking at her.

"Hi?"

The girl tilted her head.

"You're my sister."

Jasmine didn't really have an idea of how to respond to that so she just settled on "Um…"

The girl spoke again.

"I'm Cass. Come."

Then she walked out of the room and Jasmine stood there for a moment before the what the girl, Cass had said registered and she followed, curious about what the girl wanted.

Cass led her to a small library on the second floor that had always been Jasmine's favorite.  
There Cass stopped and looked back at Jasmine.

"What is good?"

"What?"

"Good book?"

"Oh, sure." As if it was completely normal to ask someone you'd never met about the books they liked. But then again, this wasn't exactly a normal family. "What kinds of books do you like?"  
Cass sounded like a person of few words, but hey, who was she to judge.

Cass shrugged. "Just learning."

That caught Jasmine a bit by surprise, even with the obvious difficulties Cass had with speaking, though she was careful not to show it.

"Oh, well. What have you read so far?"

"Babs'."

Jasmine couldn't really think of any one book that Barbara could have had Cass read, with her having been a librarian and such. Maybe she could just suggest something that Cass might like.

"Have you ever read Harry Potter?"

Cass looked confused.

"Steph made me watch movies."

Right, the dead girl. Had the two of them been friends? She'd have to find out more about her.

"Well, I think you might like the books and it might be nice because they go from easy at first to more difficult as it goes on. They started out as children's books but every new book became more mature and contained more pages, so yeah, I think you might like them."

Cass nodded. "You have them?"

"Yeah, I had them, so they're probably still there. And I'm pretty sure that Dick had them as well."

"Get them?"

"Okay." She was about to lead the way back to her old room when she remembered the reason she came upstairs in the first place. "Hey, you wouldn't by any chance know where I could find some clothes that might actually fit me?"

Cass nodded.

"In my room."

Then she gestured for Jasmine to follow her.  
Cass seemed a bit small for her clothes to fit Jasmine but she decided to roll with it and followed.

They entered a room in the same hallway all the other rooms were in, the room itself was the same size as Jasmine's but decorated completely different. The walls were decked out with ballet posters and other dance stuff. And to be honest, it seemed like it fit Cass, she moved like a dancer.

Cass handed her a pair of jeans, a purple pullover and a pair of lilac sneakers. They seemed like they might be her size so she starting putting them on. As she was doing so she addressed Cass.

"Do you dance?"

Cass looked at her for a moment before averting her eyes and Jasmine could have sworn that she blushed slightly.

"Not much."

Jasmine smiled.

"But you like it? You look like a dancer, to be honest."

Cass looked at her in a way that Jasmine recognized as her reading her body. Jasmine finished putting the pullover on and immediately decided that she liked the soft fabric. Then Cass spoke up.

"You dance?"

Jasmine snorted. "No."

Cass was still looking at her.

"Why do you lie?"

Sighing Jasmine rubbed a hand over her face.

"Okay, yeah, I guess I did dance. But that's a thing of the past now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, Cass. I'm sure. I'm dead, remember? Can hardly do that when I don't exist."

Cass seemed to consider her words carefully before she answered.

"I did not exist when I came here, but now I do. Because of Bruce."

Jasmine snorted as she tied the laces of the sneakers, they were a bit too big but they would serve for now.

"And I guess that he threw a lot of money at some city officials to make all the problems disappear. And that it worked because of course it worked, money is the magic that can fix everything in this world. And yes, I guess he could do the same for me, but I'm supposedly his daughter, okay, no. I am his daughter, not like he would make a mistake about that but I don't think I want to be. I don't want the whole media circus that this would undoubtedly cause."

She sighed.

"And even more than that, I don't even know if I want him to be my father. A few years ago he was my father-figure but now he hasn't been anything of the like to me in years. He didn't even have a clue that I might have been alive. And I don't blame him for that but I do for the fact that he didn't prevent anyone from suffering my fate. He just let the Joker continue hurting people, not doing anything to stop him except for locking him in Arkham, over and over again, even though we all know they could just as well install a revolving door there with how easily everyone gets in and out."

When she was done, Cass shook her head.

"Wrong. He cared. Loves you more than he says. Superman stopped him from killing Joker."

"Dick said something like that as well, but what do you mean exactly? Why haven't I heard of this before?"

"Don't know much. Just what Dick told."

Jasmine hummed. She'd have to ask Dick then.

"Thanks, Cass. Now, let's get your books, huh?"

Cass nodded and smiled and Jasmine couldn't help but offer a smile return.

* * *

 _So this was chapter 13, if you liked it or if there is anything you want to let me know please favourite, follow or review. I try to answer every review and I absolutely love getting them. Thanks!_


	14. Chapter 14

_So here is chapter 14. And right on time for Chirstmas too!_

 _In this chapter there are a few instances where characters speak in Arabic and when that happens their words will be between._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Jasmine stood before her bookcase with Cass beside her.

"Damnit! Where are those books?"

A sleep-addled voice spoke up behind them.

"I might have some of your books in my room."

Tim. Jasmine sighed. She had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Harry Potter by any chance?"

"Um, yeah. You want them back?"

She nodded.

"Yes, Cass wants to read them."

That was when Tim seemed to notice that Cass was in the room.

"Oh, hey Cass. Didn't know you were back. How was Hongkong?"

Cass grinned.

"Good. Less crime now."

Tim grinned back.

"Good. You staying in Gotham long?"

Cass shrugged.

"Don't know yet. Maybe?

"Nice, I'll go get those books, then."

The last part was directed at Jasmine, so she answered.

"Yeah, sure. You do that."

Cass elbowed her.

"Be nice."

Jasmine pulled her most innocent looking innocent face.

"I'm always nice."

The disbelieving look Cass send her way said it all.

"Okay, fine. Maybe not, but at the very least I'm not mean to Timmy."

Cass's answering look was both one of agreement and of encouragement to do better than that.  
It was incredible what Cass could convey using no words at all. Jasmine found herself kind of liking her 'big sister' but she still wanted to get away from the Manor, before Bruce came back and would try to convince her to stay again.

* * *

Tim felt more awake by the time he got back to Jasmine's room, so when he entered the first thing he saw was Jasmine sitting on the bed, with Cass in front of her on the floor. But his attention went to the clothes Jasmine was wearing.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

Jasmine send him a confused look.

"Cass gave them to me."

He almost dropped the books he was holding as he balled his hands into fists.

"Those were Steph's."

Jasmine seemed to need a moment to place the name.

"Stephanie Brown? The girl Black Mask tortured and killed?"

He nodded miserably.

"Yes."

Her face became more sympathetic.

"I'm sorry, Tim. Was she your girlfriend or something like that?"

"Ex. But we were still best friends."

Jasmine nodded.

"I'll be sure to return the clothes, but I do need them to get home."

Home? Tim almost wanted to say that she was how but thought that she might not react all too well to that.

"You're going already?"

"Um, yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

Right, he thought, why wouldn't she? What did she have left in the Manor that she would want to stay for?  
He sighed.

"I don't know."

"Yeah, me neither."

She took the books out of Tim's hands and gave them to Cass, who gave her a smile in return.

Then she left, leaving Tim and Cass behind.

* * *

Jasmine went looking for Alfred to say goodbye before she left.

She went to the kitchen first, hoping that he was there so she could avoid going to the Cave again.

She was in luck and Alfred was in the kitchen, preparing for dinner.

As she entered the kitchen he looked up.

"Ah, Mistress Jasmine. Ready to go already?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, Alf. Sorry, but this monstrosity of a family reunion has gone on for long enough now, I think. No offense."

Alfred smiled.

"Non-taken, my dear girl. Seeing your family again after so long, having to see how they changed and went on without you cannot be easy."

She snorted.

"You don't know the half of it, Alfie."

She went to give him a hug and he received her with open arms, readily hugging her back.

"You be careful, all right? Try and keep the close calls to a minimum and spare me any more impromptu heart attacks. And if you ever have need of me, I am but a phone call away."

"Thank you, Alfred. And the same for you, if you call, I'll be there."

"You are always welcome here, young miss. Remember that."

She nodded against his shoulder.

"I will, or I'll try to at least."

She grinned and at him and he shook his head fondly as they let go of each other. She turned to leave the kitchen and subsequently the Manor.

"Bye, Alfie."

"Goodbye, Mistress Jasmine."

* * *

Jasmine was walking towards her apartment after leaving the car she'd taken from Bruce's garage on the sidewalk in the Narrows, all the trackers he'd managed to put on her in it, when she heard yelling.

"Unhand me, you vile creature."

That sounded like… Damian? But what would he be doing in Gotham? He was supposed to be safely at the Compound. Or maybe Talia had taken him with her when she came to Gotham, but that didn't sound like Talia to her.

Jasmine hurried in the direction the sounds came from and when she turned the corner she saw her little brother being held by his wrist by some seedy character. Her hands immediately went to her hips for her guns, only to realize that they were not there. So she yelled.

"Hey! Let him go!"

The man turned around and chuckled when he saw her.

"Or what? You're gonna hurt me? Go play hero somewhere else, little girl."

Then Damian piped up.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!"

The man ogled Jasmine and she felt the urge to scrub herself clean because of it.

"Your sister, huh? Maybe I'll take her too."

As he said it Damian moved and disrupted the balance of the man while forcing him to lose his grip on Damian's wrist. Jasmine moved forwards and served him a sharp jab to the solar plexus, effectively flooring the man. She put her foot on his throat and told him that he wasn't taking anyone, before delivering a kick to his head to knock him out.  
Then she turned to Damian.

"What the hell are you doing here, Damian? I'm pretty sure Talia wouldn't be okay with this."

Damian didn't even have the grace to look apologetic.

"I wanted to see you and mother wouldn't let me."

Jasmine sighed.

"So you just decided to come on your own?"

When he nodded, she continued.

"Damian, you're eight, you can't just decide to travel across the globe on your own. I'm sure your mother is worried sick."

"Tt."

Jasmine took Damian's hand.

"Come on, you can stay at my place and I'll let Talia know that you're with me."

"That is acceptable."

Jasmine sighed as she walked away from the still unconscious man on the ground, gripping Damian's hand tight to keep him from getting away from her. She had missed him and was glad to see him, but she didn't want to think about what Talia would do if she heard that Jasmine had found him only to lose him again.

* * *

Barbara frowned.

She'd followed Jasmine on Bruce's request, though she told herself she only did it because she was worried about Jasmine and how she would act in the wake of being confronted with the Joker.

And at first everything had seemed fine, she'd taken a car, nothing surprising there, she'd even left it in one piece, ready for them to pick it up, and with it all the trackers any of them had planted on her.

But that was when it became less normal, even for them. She hadn't been surprised when Jasmine turned to help a child in trouble, but what was abnormal was the fact that the kid had been the one to free himself. And Jasmine seemed to know him, as evidenced by them walking off together.  
She'd tried to follow them and for a time she had been able to, she even got a good shot of the kid's face. And that was when she lost them, too surprised to pull herself away from the picture of the boy to be able to follow them and when she finally drew her attention away from the picture, they were gone and she couldn't find them anymore.  
So she turned her attention back to the picture and was struck once more by the resemblance between Bruce and the kid. He almost looked like a little child sized Bruce. Of course the pic was in black and white, so she couldn't be certain but for as far as she could see, he really looked like Bruce.

So much so that she didn't really know if she should do something about it or not.

* * *

Once they were in her apartment, Jasmine put Damian on the couch and told him to stay put. He tt'd but did as she asked, knowing that she would not ask that nice the next time and that she didn't give a damn that he was used to people tending to his every whim.

She then went to retrieve her phone and called Talia.  
Talia answered at the first ring and immediately started speaking in Arabic.

"Jasmine, are you alright? Did your father do something? If you give me a location, I'll be there within a few hours."

Jasmine sighed. She hadn't noticed how much she has missed Talia in the months since she had last seen her, even if she was overreacting a little bit at the moment.

"I'm okay, T. Just calling because I found a certain midget wandering about Gotham."

That prompted a frustrated tt from the couch and a relieved sigh from Talia.

"That is a relief. Damian disappeared from the Compound several days ago and hasn't been spotted since."

"Well, I don't know where he was before but he's with me now."

"Could you put him on?"

"Sure."

She handed the phone to Damian, who reluctantly put it to his ear.

He became very pale, very quickly and Jasmine immediately knew why. Even muffled, a rant from Talia was easily recognizable.  
Jasmine shuddered, she really hoped she wouldn't be on the receiving end of one of those any time soon.

Every now and again Damian would say something in Arabic and Jasmine reflected on how nearly every conversation she had with Talia was in the language. How it had even become a habit to answer a call from Talia in Arabic.

Talia, who was probably her mother. Shit! She'd best ask about that.

Then she got her phone back from a very upset looking Damian. He'd think twice before disobeying his mother again.  
She put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Jasmine, you are to watch your brother. Do not let him leave your side."

Jasmine arched an eyebrow she knew Talia could not see.

"What about my night activities?"

She heard Talia sigh.

"Maybe you can take him with you?"

She bristled.

"No way! I'm not gonna endanger another kid by making him a vigilante."

"You are a child and I let you do the same."

"Yeah, about that. B…um, he said that you two were my biological parents?"

She heard Talia sigh on the other side of the line.

"You were not supposed to find out like this. He should not have done that, but yes, what he said is true."

Jasmine took a deep breath to gather her thoughts. Now she had no choice but to accept what until now had been a possibility as a fact.

"How? And more importantly why? Why have you never told me?"

"It's… complicated. I know I should have but the right circumstances never arose."

"Why? Because I'm not the daughter you wanted?"

"No! No, that's not true and you know it. You know me well enough to know that I would never have helped you if I thought that. You and Damian are my children and I'm proud to be your mother. And as your mother I will do anything I can to help you walk your path of life."

"Then why did I grow up in Gotham? Or was that you helping as well?"

Jasmine knew she sounded bitter and maybe even jealous but at the moment she didn't really care. She felt as though she deserved answers.

"No, that was your grandfather, doing what he does best. Enforcing his own beliefs on people without their consent. Believe me when I tell you that this is not the life I envisioned for you."

She could hear the thinly veiled rage in Talia's voice and for a moment she thought it was meant for her but then she realized that it was directed at Ra's. It made her feel strangely light to know that her mother was not angry with her.

When Talia was done, Jasmine wasn't sure how to respond. This seemed so much like every dream she'd ever had about finding out that she had actually really great parents that had somehow lost her. It had always made her feel guilty towards her mom, who, despite everything, had done the best she could to raise her. And Catherine Todd would always be Jasmine's mom, even if they weren't biologically related.

And now Talia wanted to fill that role in her life, it sounded too good to be true, she knew it was. There was always a catch when it came to Talia. She'd even told Bruce as much: Talia would act like a mother towards her as long as she did as Talia asked, the moment she deviated from the path laid out for her she'd be on her own.  
 _She_ knew that, but Damian didn't. And maybe she could protect him from that harsh truth. It would mean Damian staying with her, but she could do that. Despite what everyone had been telling her lately, she wasn't a child, she hadn't been in a very long time, maybe she'd never been. But she could give Damian a chance to be. If she managed to keep him away from the teachings from the League.

"Okay, Thanks, Talia. Have to go now. Bye."

She turned off the phone, thus preventing Talia from contacting her that way again.

Then she went back to Damian, who was still sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Dami, have you eaten yet?"

He looked at her with confusion written on his face, but he did answer.

"No."

"Okay, I'll get started on something and then we can eat together. That sound good to you?"

He nodded.

She went to the kitchen and started on something she thought he would like, hoping to cheer him up after receiving a lecture from Talia.  
When he sat down at the kitchen table and she put the first pancake on his plate, he looked up at her a bit bewildered.

"A pancake, Damian. If you're going to be staying here, you'll see them a lot more in the future. I think you'll really like them."

He tried a small piece, before seemingly deciding that he liked pancakes and digging in.

She made a few more for him before making some for herself, the smell from the pancakes serving to make her realize just how hungry she was.

When she began eating, Damian was almost done and looked at her with hopeful eyes and she chuckled.

"I take it you like pancakes?"

He nodded.

"Can I get more?"

"No, I used the last of the batter to make my own. I can make you a sandwich if you want?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay, just a moment."

She ate the rest of her pancakes before she went to make Damian a sandwich.  
When she gave it to him, he immediately dug in and she wondered just how much an eight-year-old boy could eat. But when he was done he looked sleepy, so she directed him back to the couch and told him to sleep a bit. She went to her bedroom to get a blanket for him and when she got back Damian was already fast asleep so she just covered him with the blanket and hoped that he would sleep long enough for her to be able to go on patrol and get back without him waking.

* * *

Bruce was pacing, he knew he was, but he couldn't stop.

Jasmine had left and Oracle couldn't (or wouldn't) tell him where she'd gone. And all the trackers he'd put on her were scattered over Gotham. Some were in the Manor, the ones she'd found even before she'd left. Some were on the road from the Manor to Gotham and some coincided with the trackers of his car, the one that had always been Jasmine's favorite and likely still was if the fact that she took it was any indication.

He would have liked to keep her in the Manor a little while longer, in hopes of having another chance to convince her to stay, but he was not exactly surprised that she had left. He'd known the moment she had sent him from her room that she'd be gone within the day. He wasn't really sure yet what he had done wrong but he did know that he'd find out soon enough.  
The boys and Alfred, as well as Barbara would not allow him to go on unknowing, they'd all make sure that he knew just how much of an idiot he was, all in their own way.

Was it so wrong that he wanted to keep his children safe? As much as he could, considering their lifestyle, anyway. And him being Jasmine's father gave him a certain amount of power over her, especially considering she was a minor.  
At sixteen she desperately needed parental figures in her life, of that he was sure, and he refused to let that be Talia.

It was not that he didn't trust Talia (he didn't) but he blamed her for the excessive violence that Red Hood was rumored to employ in her pursuit of justice.  
He hoped it wasn't true but for all he knew, she really did kill the second in commands of most of the prominent mobs in the city, only to present their heads to their bosses.*

He hoped that the fact that they couldn't find concrete evidence for it meant that it was just that, a rumor.

The warehouse where the meet had supposedly taken place was now riddled with bullets but no heads had been found. Even so, nearly every major mob in the city had acquired a new second in command since the rumor had spread.

Bruce didn't like it. he wanted to call Talia and ask het what she had done to their daughter, if she had molded her into her own little child assassin, but he couldn't. if she confirmed his theory, there would be no way for him to deny that his daughter was a murderer.

That everything he'd done to shield her from that fate had been in vain.

And there was no way he would be able to condone her working in Gotham, then.

And with guns, no less. It was as if she did it to spite him, and the worst part of that was that that might actually be the truth.

He sighed.

Why did raising children have to be so hard? It almost made him want to scream at his younger self to never start adopting kids, they were nothing but trouble.  
But… he also loved them, loved how they brought life with them when they came to him. Each in their own way.

Dick with his endless energy and his inviting laugh, Jasmine with her attitude a mile long, but also her childish curiosity and genuine smiles that were rare but absolutely worth the wait. Tim with his baffling intellect and mulish stubbornness and Cassandra with her wonder at the world and her endless compassion.

All four of them, they were special and unique and, if he was honest, he didn't want to change a thing.

They were his children and he would give up nearly everything for them on a moment's notice.

He wanted to say everything, but that simply wasn't true, Gotham would always come first, that was something he'd realized over the years.

Though he had almost given up his ideals after Jaso-Jasmine died. He would have without Clark's interference.

And by doing that he had probably saved Bruce's sanity.

He didn't think he could've lived with himself if he had killed the Joker.  
He hope that Jasmine understood that.  
That he hadn't wanted to besmirch her memory by killing someone in her name.  
Understood that it was just something that he could not do for any of them, would never be able to do, even for them.

His children meant the world to him, but even as a billionaire there were limits to what he could do for them. And, unsurprisingly, most of them had nothing to do with money and everything with his morals and his inability to properly express his feelings, something he was very well aware of, in spite of what Dick might claim.

And that had been the problem during his conversation with Jasmine.  
She had probably been confused and angry because of what he told her and then he'd tried to give her what he thought he should as her father but she had probably seen it as him being controlling.

And yes, perhaps it was, but it would also give her some much needed assurances. Being officially his daughter would make thing both harder and easier for her. But it would force her to live, instead of simply surviving, like she had been doing so far. That was no way to live, especially not for a child. It would be wrong to allow her to continue living the way she was.

She was still so young, she had every chance to live life the way she wanted. Of building a life with a future. And if she didn't want him in it, then that would be fine, he wouldn't like it, but he would accept it. As long as she was able to live the life she wanted.

But to do that, he would have to get through to her and that would not be easy.

He'd watched the footage of his daughters talking and been pleasantly surprised by them talking about hobbies and other things girls their age talked about. It showed that despite everything they had both been through they were still children.

They all were, even Dick was at 24 still so young. He should be in college or working a first job, not working himself to exhaustion to save the world every few months.

All of his children regularly did things few would be able to do and they did it as kids. Incredible, remarkable kids, but kids all the same. And he felt so guilty when he thought about the childhood that had been taken from them, and the part he had played in that.

He remembered how mad Alfred had been when he had first decided to tale Dick in, stating that his lifestyle did not allow him to offer a child a healthy childhood.  
And that a child, who had experienced something like Dick had, needed a stable environment, hardly what they could offer.

But Bruce had put his foot down and did as he wanted, in spite of Alfred's warnings, and while he didn't regret it, he had asked himself many times whether or not he had made the right decision, both in his and theirs interests.

All of his children had had moments were they had been injured severely enough that Bruce had been afraid that he was going to lose them, and with Jasmine he had. No one would ever understand how it had felt that night, to find his little Robin, only seconds too late, to see that warehouse go up in flames, knowing that his child was inside. How he'd ran into that inferno, clinging to the feeble hope that Robin could have somehow survived the explosion. Right up until the moment he found her, crushed by a boulder. It had been clear at sight that she was the dead but he had still felt for a pulse, checked if she was breathing. There had been nothing.

He'd cried then. Had sat there for hours on end while his child grew cold and stiff in his arms.

Bruce thought about the strangeness of knowing Jasmine was a girl when it came to his memories of her as Jason. He had trouble thinking of her as girl in those, but could not think of her as a boy either. It was a strange situation and one he didn't really have a solution for.

He didn't know of nay precedents for this situation so he just tried to understand what could have driven a little girl to pose as a boy for years on end. What had she seen that had convinced her to keep doing so, even long after Catherine Todd had died.

That her vigilante identity was male had probably more to do with convenience that anything else, but still, he wanted to know why.

But she had told him in no unclear words that she had no desire to talk to him. She was mad at him for a lot of reasons, some justified and some less so, but he felt like there was nothing he could do about it. Not that it would keep him from trying to absolve himself in her eyes.

He hated how it seemed that a pattern was emerging that as his children grew up, they went through a period of resenting him.

Jasmine had been the victim of that when Dick had rebelled against him and he didn't want Tim to suffer the same fate.

* * *

Tim thumped his head on his desk, groaning.

He didn't know how to fix this mess. He could see everyone struggling with Jasmine's return and now she had left and he hadn't been able to stop her, hadn't even known how to try without getting her angry.

He was such a failure, both as a brother and a Robin.

* * *

 _*I'm not gonna do this in real time because everyone probably knows what happened . And if you don't: what Bruce heard as rumors is pretty what did happen. For those who read the Under The Hood comic, I left out Onyx because she would have made this so much more difficult. Sorry if you liked her in it._

 _Please let me know what you think in anyway you want._


End file.
